AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
347 
placed out of doors in a cool, airy situation, till 
the time for taking in the general stock of green¬ 
house plants. 
Where the plants have bloomed so profusely 
as almost to exhaust them, tie some moss round 
the principal stems, and keep it constantly 
moist; this will cause them to break regularly 
and grow freely. 
Where there is not the convenience of a stove, 
I would recommend that the plants be kept in 
the green-house till the buds are well set; and 
should this happen so late that there are but 
two or three weeks for them to have the ad¬ 
vantage of the open air, still setting them out 
will be found highly serviceable. 
If the foregoing particulars are attended to, 
the roots will be emitted in such abundance, as 
completely to fill the pots; and instead of being 
liable to perish from over-watering, it will be 
almost impossible to give them enough, the 
close mass of thirst-roots absrobing an almost 
incredible quantity of moisture. Treated as 
above described, all the species and varieties of 
this splendid tribe will answer the most san¬ 
guine wishes and expectations of the cultivator; 
and I think it is impossible to bloom some of 
the sorts properly, as Smithii, and others, under 
any other mode of treatment. Instead of pro¬ 
ducing here and there a flower, which is often 
the case, the plants will be one entire mass of 
bloom, expanding their brilliant flowers from 
two and a half to three inches across, and com¬ 
manding the admiration of all who behold them. 
Where it is required, and the stock of plants 
is sufficient, the blooming season may be pro¬ 
tracted from September till June, affording 
charming ornaments for autumn, winter, and 
spring. 
CLAIMS OF AGRICULTURAL PATENTS 
ISSUED FOR THE WEEK ENDING JAN. 21st, 1854. 
Grain Harvesters. —By Aaron Palmer, of 
Brockport, N. Y., and Stephen G. Williams, of 
Janesville, Wis.: We do not claim the discharg¬ 
ing the cut stalks and heads of grain from a 
platform, by means of the combination of a 
rake with a lever, and the cooperation therewith 
of a series of teeth on the face of the main driv¬ 
ing wheel, and an inclined rail rising above the 
curved guard of the platform, as these are al¬ 
ready secured to us by letters patent. 
But we do claim the method of transferring 
motion to the.rake on the platform from the 
driving wheel, by means of the double curved 
rack and pinion on the axle of the driving 
wheel, the iron arm, latch and spring, as de¬ 
scribed. 
Also, the method of hanging the reel so as to 
dispense with any post or reel bearer next to 
the standing grain, as herein described, thereby 
preventing the grain from getting caught and 
held fast between the driver and a reel sup¬ 
porter. 
Threshers and Cleaners of Grain. —By 
James Robinson, of West Hebron, N. Y.: I 
claim the mode of checking the motion of the 
carriage when under headway, and steering the 
same by means of the tightening pulleys com¬ 
bined as described, with the threshing cylinder 
and a two wheel cart with double gearing. 
I also claim the employment, in the manner 
described, of the adjusting rods in combination 
with the feed roller for the purpose of regulating 
the amount of material to be taken up by the 
feed roller, as explained. 
I also claim the employment of said adjusting 
rods in combination with the feed roller and 
threshing cylinder for the purpose of regulating 
the amount of material to be taken up by the 
feed roller and of keeping up the material to the 
threshing cylinder. 
I also claim the combination of the adjusting 
rods, feed roller, and gauge rods, substantially 
in the manner herein above set forth. 
I also claim the combination of the gauge rods, 
with the feed roller and concave or mouth of the 
concave of the threshing machine, substantially, 
as described. 
Threshers and Separators of Grain. —By 
C. R. Soule, of Fairfield, Yt.: I claim, first, the 
spring at the end of the feed board, to prevent 
damage from stones getting into the machine; 
secondly the straw carrier and separator, con¬ 
sisting of the notched-bars having an endway 
motion, and the beater as specified, combined 
with themoveable conducting board for insuring 
the descent of the grain. 
I also claim the mode of hanging and moving 
the shoe, as described. 
Washing Machines. —By Win. Cunningham, 
of Holliday’s Cove, Va.: I do not claim the gen¬ 
eral features of the rubbing frames and plunger; 
but I claim the roller frames hung in adjustable 
boxes and connected by weighted arms, as de¬ 
scribed. 
Bee Hives. —By John II. Dennis, of Boston, 
Mass.: I claim a moth trap consisting of a close 
chamber having no communication with the rest 
of the hive and in which may be placed a vessel 
containing some fluid attractive to the bee-moth, 
in combination with a conical or tapering en¬ 
trance tube, as set forth. 
Re-issue. 
Portable Horse Powers. —By J. A. Taplin, 
of Fishkill, N. Y. Patented originally, Dec. 
30, 1841: I do not like to claim the making of 
the large wheel of a horse power in segments 
merely, but I claim such wheel and axle com¬ 
posed of a number of parts arranged and con¬ 
nected as described, so that the wheel can read¬ 
ily be taken apart and put together again, to 
facilitate the frequent removal of the horse-power 
from place to place to bring it near the work on 
which it is to be used. 
I also claim connecting the segment of the 
rim of the horse-power by means of clamps con¬ 
structed, as set forth. 
FISH MANURE. 
As there is so much interest in this subject at 
the present time, and so many are asking us 
for all the information we can furnish, we feel 
justified in giving space to a full report of a dis¬ 
cussion on Fisheries Guano by the Society of 
Arts, in London, on the 21st of December last. 
We found the report in the Ma/rTc Lane Express, 
and reserved it for condensing, but after re-read 
ing think it worth giving entire. 
Mr. Horace Green read a paper on Pettitt’s 
“ Fisheries Guano,” in which he said—Guano, 
it is generally understood, was introduced to the 
notice of Europeans, by Yon Humboldt, in 1804. 
It was brought to England as an object of mer¬ 
chandize in 1839. It had been used in Peru 
for six hundred years and upwards, and the is¬ 
land depositaries had been for ages under the 
management of the state. Its early history is 
too well known, through the lectures and essays 
of Professors Johnston, Way, and others, to 
need repetition. The only points of the evidence 
of the earlier witness on this subject to which 
we need now refer is that, even in those days, 
the flocks of birds, being disturbed by the oper¬ 
ations of the traders, had begun to des6rt the 
islands, and the annual new deposits were regu¬ 
larly swept off for the home consumption of 
Peru. With reference to the early price: in 
1841, Mr. Johnston, to whose papers every per¬ 
son interested in the question naturally refers, 
gave the price of guano as £25 per ton in this 
country, and not more than £2 5s. to £3 10s. 
on the spot; and having given an analysis, and 
calculated the price at which the same amount 
of fertilizing matter might be added to the soil 
from the manufactories of this country (say 
£9 10s.,) he deduced that the British farmer 
should not be called upon to pay more than £20 
for his ton of Peruvian guano, and should cer¬ 
tainly refuse to do so. Mr. Philip Pusey, then 
president of the Royal Agricultural Society, in 
a paper on the subject in the Journal of that 
body, also gives the same opinion, and without 
doubt the very rapid adjustment of the price to 
the sum of £9 5s. per ton may be taken as a pru¬ 
dent acknowledgment by the Peruvian agents 
of the very forcible nature of the Professor’s ar¬ 
gument. It would appear that, until the open¬ 
ing of the trade in guano, the Peruvians had 
confined themselves mostly to the use of the 
new deposits, and had used up annually, or 
nearly so, the supply provided for them, because 
we have not received from Peru any guano as 
rich as new deposit would be, nor indeed as is 
imported from Bolivia and other entrepots of 
very minor capabilities; and the earlier imports 
as being nearer the surface of the solidified de¬ 
posits, were inferior to that which arrives at the 
present time. It is more than likely that solid 
masses, nearly in a virgin state, not having been 
cut into by the Peruvians, were attacked with 
pick and spade to load the earlier ships. As the 
work went on, the diggers arrived at harder 
strata, enriched at the cost of those above by 
the filtration of ages, and so consolidated as to 
require in some places the operation of blasting. 
Notwithstanding the conflict of opinions on this 
subject, it is generally believed that the zenith 
of supply from Peru is past. We arc aware 
that there is an increasing demand, and yet 
there is a marked falling off in the import. We 
have seen the entire exhaustion of the Ichaboe 
islands in 1845, 1846, and 1847—a short space 
of three years—and we may therefore well turn 
attention to new sources of supply of this con¬ 
centration of fertilizing matter, before considering 
of home-made aids or substitutes. Of the 129,- 
000 tons imported in 1852, 97,484 were from 
Peru and Chili, and 6,213 from Bolivia, or, to¬ 
gether, 103,697. The Bolivian guano is of ex¬ 
cellent quality; it is, in fact, collected as it falls; 
there is not, therefore, the shadow of a proba¬ 
bility of its being a material stop-gap should the 
Peruvian supplies run short. But for the other 
depots little can be said. In the previously 
named places no rain falls, bub in most of the 
sources of the 26,000 tons unaccounted for, the 
virtue of the guano has been washed out by in¬ 
tense and long-continued tropical rains. Out of 
the many analyses of guanos, one or two may 
be presented to carry out the argument. We 
may avail ourselves with the greatest confidence 
of those furnished by Professor Way to the 
Royal Agricultural Society, and may safely trust 
to the accuracy of Johnston, Anderson, Tesche- 
macher, and Nesbit. There appear to be Salda- 
nia Bay guano, Patagonian, Australian, and 
East Indian, of which last fresh deposits have 
been recently brought to the notice of the pub¬ 
lic. The per-centages of ammonia are as fol¬ 
lows, being the means of several experiments 
on each variety: 
In Saldanha Bay.1.68 per cent. 
In Patagonian.2.55 “ 
In Cape and Algoa Bay.. .2.00 “ 
In the New Islands.1.96 “ 
But in phosphate of lime, which is the next most 
important element, these guanos are richer as 
they are poorer in ammonia. The mean amount 
of phosphate of lime is 
In Saldanha Bay.55.30 per cent. 
In Patagonian...44.60 “ 
In Cape, &c.20.00 “ 
In the New Islands.62.80 “ 
And this will be the case in all guanos which 
shall be found where the rain falls upon the de¬ 
posits, which never occurs in Peru. Now, as 
respects the position such guanos are likely to 
take as a substitute, or side by side with the 
Peruvian, there is but little chance of their be¬ 
ing much used until the extinction of the sup¬ 
plies of the latter, except for the purposes of 
adulteration. There may chance to be large 
imports, but it is questionable whether, if im¬ 
ported, they will enter into consumption through¬ 
out the country under their true colors as phos- 
phatic manures, or the disguise of Peruvian 
guano. It is more than probable that many of 
the practical farmers who now lay out a little 
money annually in guano, will continue to be 
guided, as at present, by the smell of the arti¬ 
cle, which a mere trace of ammonia is sufficient 
