122 
GUANO. 
G-UANO. 
We copy below from the Gardeners’ Chronicle, 
(English,) some appropriate remarks on this 
invaluable fertiliser, and which, to no incon¬ 
siderable extent, are equally applicable in this 
country. 
At a time when sensible men are acting upon 
the well-known principle that manure is the 
mother of wealth, and the most effectual substi¬ 
tute for protective duties, it becomes more 
important than ever to point out the enormous 
frauds to which incautious persons are subject. 
Under the name of cheap guano and artificial 
manures, farmers are continually buying, at 
exorbitant prices, what is hardly worth the 
cartage. 
We have repeatedly drawn attention to this 
fact, especially as concerns guano. We have 
shown that by means of loam, various kinds of 
refuse, sand, pounded limestone, and other sub¬ 
stances, guano is brought into the market so 
ingeniously falsified as to defy detection, except 
under the unerring analysis of the chemist. In 
this way, materials posessing no intrinsic value, 
and as manures inert, are bought by unsuspi¬ 
cious agriculturists, at from £5 to £10 a ton, to 
the great pecuniary loss of the buyer, and to 
the discredit of one of the most valuable sub¬ 
stances in nature. It is no exaggeration to 
apply that name to genuine Peruvian guano, in 
the state in which it reaches this country. 
We have at this moment before us a new 
sample of the matters with which the guano 
market is just now supplied. At no great dis¬ 
tance from one of our metropolitan railways, 
certain stones are collected, which, being roasted 
in a kiln and then crushed, form a most exact 
representation of the finest pale guano. Neither 
by touch nor sight can the most practised eye 
distinguish it, unasisted by the microscope. 
This stuff is largely consumed in the falsifi¬ 
cation of guano at the very moment when these 
remarks are printed; and there is no doubt that 
a great deal of the guano that is sold by dis¬ 
reputable dealers consists of it. 
What are farmers to do, in order to escape 
this plunder? The answer is, naturally—con¬ 
sult the chemist—have your samples analysed. 
But experience shows that men either cannot or 
will not have recourse to this unerring guide; 
and, therefore, those who are desirous of saving 
the public from the fraudulent practices that 
abound in all directions, are called upon to pro¬ 
pose some other test. Such a test is price; that 
is to say, when guano is offered below a certain 
price, the buyer may be certain either that 
roguery has been practised, or that the sample 
is so damaged as to be worthless. 
It is to be remembered, that the measures 
taken by the Peruvian government, render the 
introduction of genuine guano through more 
than one European firm impossible. [This 
principle is in a good degree observed by the 
Peruvian government in their transactions in 
this country.— Eds.] All the Peruvian guano 
on sale has necessarily been bought of them. 
Now, their price by the cargo, is £9 os. per ton, 
in London or Liverpool, and £9 10s., ($47.50,) 
at all other ports. No man, therefore, can sell 
genuine guano at a lower price, without sus¬ 
taining loss. Nevertheless, we hear of it in the 
north of England at £8 10s. and £7 10s., prices 
at which the retailers must lose from £l to £2 
per ton. Does any one suppose the dealers 
to be patriots, immolating themselves for the 
sake of agriculture ? Buyers may be sure that 
they are no such thing; and that their patriot¬ 
ism consists exclusively in filling their pockets 
at the expense of credulous farmers. 
Fraud is at the bottom of all these bargains! 
We have now before us analyses of two sam¬ 
ples, offered considerably below the cost price 
of the genuine article. In one of these, at £8 
10s., the quantity of ammonia was something 
more than 10 per cent.; in the other, at £7 10s., 
it was not quite 8£ per cent. The first con¬ 
tained nearly one fourth part of sand, and the 
other just one third of black earthy matter 
resembling ground coprolite, and costing, at the 
most, £3 a ton. 
The valuable analyses of guano by Mr. Way, 
prove that the average per centage of ammonia 
in genuine Peruvian is 17£ per cent, nearly, and 
and that the quantity of sand is not more than 
H lbs. in every hundred pounds, on an 
average. 
In the cheap samples here alluded to, the 
earthy phosphates, a most important part of the 
guano, were only 7 lbs. in a hundred, in one 
sample, and about 10 lbs. in the other. But the 
average amount of this substance, in genuine 
Peruvian, has been found by Mr. Way to be 24 
per cent., or thereabouts. 
The following calculation will show the posi¬ 
tion of the farmer who buys cheap guanos, such 
as the market tempts him with. 
Genuine guano, at 
£9 10s., contains.. 
Spurious guano, at 
£8 10s., contains.. 
Ditto, at £7 10s., con¬ 
tains . 
Ammonia. Phosphates. 
17.41 24.12=41.53 
10.10 6.80=16.90 
8.37 10.24=18.61 
As the value of guano depends essentially 
upon its ammonia and earthy phosphates, it will 
be evident that if genuine guano, costing £9 10s., 
contains 41 lbs. of them in every hundred 
pounds, guano, containing 17 per cent only, is 
worth no more than £3 18s. 6d.; so that the 
dealer who sells such stuff at £8 10s., pockets 
£4 11s. 6d. per ton, at the expense of the simple 
purchaser. 
There is no evading this result, and therefore 
it is that farmers are cautioned against having 
anything to do with low-priced guano. 
It is true, that he may also buy spurious guano 
at a high price; but against that he may guard 
himself by a vigilant scrutiny of the character 
of the person with whom he deals. There are 
plenty of respectable men all over the kingdom, 
whose ruputations place them above suspicion, 
and to them we earnestly recommend buyers to 
confine their orders. 
