64 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
(Driginai IjJa^jers from Contributors. 
GUANO AS A MANURE, 
Messrs. Editors —This article, now making a consi¬ 
derable noise in the world, and atti-acting the attention 
of agriculturists in Europe and America, was first intro¬ 
duced into the United States in 1830. At that time the 
writer of this article received a barrel of it, and distribu¬ 
ted it to many persons, resei-ving a small portion for his 
own use. From an ignorance of the proper application 
of it, probably, it either destroyed every thing on which 
it was applied, or produced no effect. So far as the wri¬ 
ter heard from those to whom he gave it, one or the oth¬ 
er of these effects resulted in every case. Since then it 
has been occasionally introduced in small parcels, but 
nothing favorable to its high value has as yet resulted 
from its use in this country, so far as the wi-iter is aware. 
But it has not been tried with sufficient care and infor¬ 
mation of its nature; and therefore no judgment of its 
value can be formed from any experiment made with it 
in this country. The object of this paper, therefore, is 
to lay before American agriculturists all the information 
at present to be had, of its true character, the materials 
of which it is composed, and the results of experinjents 
made with it in England. 
Baron Humboldt first introduced this article to the nOr 
tice of Europe. He considered guano as the remains 
of bird’s dung, that has accumulated on the shores of cer¬ 
tain islands on the coast of South America, Pacific side, 
between the 13th and 21st degrees of south latitude, from 
time immemorial. Its composition, according to Volckel, 
(the most recent analysis,) is as follows: 
Urate of ammonia,. 9. 
Oxalate of ammonia,. 10.6 
Oxalate of lime,. 7. 
Phosphate of ammonia,. 6 . 
Phosphate of magnesia and ammonia, ... 2.6 
Sulphate of potash,. 5.6 
Sulphate of soda,. 3.8 
Sal ammoniac, .. 4.2 
Phosphate of lime,. 14.3 
Clay and sand,. 4.7 
Organic substances not estimated, contain¬ 
ing 12 per cent of matter insoluble in 
water, soluble salts of iron in small 
quantity, water,. 32.3 
100.0 
From this analysis, it appears that about one-third of 
the whole mass of guano is salts, of which ammonia is 
the base; one-fifth is phosphoric salt, and one-fifth a salt 
of which lime is the base; and that all the other ingredi* 
ents, (potash, soda, &c.) are universally considered high¬ 
ly valuable and even necessary ingredients of good soils. 
But the ammonia, of which so large a portion of guano 
consists, is the most important of all nutritious salts, on 
account of the large amount of nitrogen it affords. It is 
a subject, however, worthy of consideration, whether we 
cannot obtain all the valuable properties of guano direct¬ 
ly from the chemists, in the form of the various salts of 
which guano is now known to be composed, at less ex¬ 
pense than we can guano itself.* A very respectable 
mercantile house in Baltimore, who have received a mo¬ 
derate quantity of guano for sale, informed the writer 
that the cost of importation, all charges included, (and 
including the duty assessed by government of 20 per 
cent,) was seven cents a pound. This price, it is be¬ 
lieved, will effectually prohibit its use in this country, 
no matter how valuable it may prove to be as a manure; 
because from two to four hundred weight will be required 
to the acre, and thus it will cost from $14 to $28 per 
acre, to manure the ground. But if it cost seven cents to 
import it, of course it must be sold at eight or ten cents 
to yield a profit to the importer, and of course it will not 
be imported unless it yield this profit. It is, however, 
hoped that there is some mistake as to the cost of impor¬ 
tation, because it is well known that the article retails in 
England, at 20 shillings per hundred weight. Of course 
the profits of the importers and also of the retailers, are 
added to the cost of importation; and if all these together 
amount to only four cents and nine-tenths per pound, it 
is difficult to conceive how the simple cost of importa¬ 
tion into this country should be seven cents. 
As to the value of guano as manure, all who have pub¬ 
lished the results of their experiments in England, con¬ 
cur in the opinion that it is very great. The writer of 
this has searched the agricultural periodicals of Great 
Britain, published during the last two years, and has not 
been able to find a single objection as to its high value. 
On the contrary, all the writers concur in the opinion 
that it Can be very profitably applied as a manure, when 
it costs twenty shillings a hundred weight. 
The manner of applying it in England, appears to have 
been various. Some mixed it with pulverized charcoal, 
some with wood ashes, others with seed wheat, oats, or 
barley. Some sowed it by itself broadcast, others applied 
it in the drills, hills, &e. Mixing it with pulverized 
charcoal in the proportion of one measure of guano to 
three of charcoal,, and sowing it broadcast, seems to the 
writer to be the best plan, unless a watery solution should 
be preferred. The quantity of guano applied to each 
acre, was generally two hundred weight; but seveml ex¬ 
perimenters considered that a larger quantity would have 
yielded more profitably, and the result of experiment 
* Artificial guano is regularly advertised for sale in the Eng¬ 
lish agricultural papers; at £16 per ton, which is 25 per cent 
cheaper than the guano itself. 
confirmed the opinion. One writer concluded that eight 
hundred weight might be applied to the acre with ad¬ 
vantage; and that if more were applied, it would injure 
if not destroy the crop. 
There is one striking defect in all the reports above 
referred to—not one of them describe the kind of soil) 
whether stiff, sandy, or otherwise, on which their expe¬ 
riments were made. Perhaps they supposed that simply 
naming the kind of crop grown, would indicate the kind 
of soil. It might do so in England, but not in this coun¬ 
try, where every kind of crop is raised, or at least at¬ 
tempted to be raised, on every kind of soil almost. 
The crops to which guano was applied in England, 
were wheat, rye, barley, oats, turneps, ruta baga, Italian 
rye grass, clover, hops, and artificial grasses generally. 
The produce of land manured with it, compared with that 
on which other manures were applied, was various in 
comparative amount, but always exceeded that of ail oth¬ 
er manures. For example, a piece of land Was manured 
with guano at the I’ate of two cwt. per acre, and another 
with 18 loads of horse manure per acre, both seeded with 
barley at the same time. The produce was ten per cent 
more from guano than from horse manure, and the latter 
was fifty per cent more costly. Another piece of land 
was manured, one acre with six cwt. of bone dust, and 
another with two cwt. of guano, and both seeded in 
wheat. The product of the bone dust was 36 bushels, 
that of the guano was 50 bushels one and a half pecks. 
Another field was divided into four parts, to the first was 
applied three cwt. per acre of guano, to the second three 
cwt. of nitrate of soda, to the third twenty tons per acre, 
of farm yard manure; the fourth was left without manure. 
The whole was seeded with Italian rye grass, and when 
harvested, the product was as follows: 
Guano yielded,. 14 tons, 15 cwt. 26 lbs. 
Nitrate of soda,. 14 ‘‘ 13 “ 37 “ 
Farmyard manure,... 13 ‘‘ 2 “ 96 
Without manure, ..... 7 “ 0 108 “ 
The above examples are deemed sufficient to afford a 
fair view of the value ascribed to guano in England, as 
they may be considered averages of a great number of 
results. They may be sufficient to induce a trial of the 
article in this country; for we must not forget that many 
articles that have received the highest commendation in 
England, have proved worthless in this country. It is not 
very easy to find a reason for this, but it is true never¬ 
theless. In nearly all the experiments with guano, the 
results were very nearly the same as those of nitrate of 
soda, and in the very extensive one just above given, it 
will be seen that the effects of the nitrate of soda were 
very nearly the same as those of guano. Now so far as 
I have been informed, the application of nitrate of soda 
as manure, in this country, proved of no value. A friend 
informed me a few days since, that he had used it exten¬ 
sively, without the slightest beneficial efiect. So it ap¬ 
pears that what is good manure in one country, may be 
perfectly inefficient in another. On this subject, I will 
trouble you again shortly. Gideon B. Smith. 
Baltimore, Feb. 13, 1843. 
INDIAN CORN. 
Messrs. Editors —My corn crop of last year was not 
so good as in former years, but being resolved to know 
the quantity per acre, I measured off half an acre—of 
course the best I could select midway across the field — 
and had it husked and measured with care. The product 
of this half acre, was forty-six bushels and a half, and ten 
quarts of shelled corn; this gives over 93^ bushels per 
acre. This com was grown in a young peach orchartl, 
the trees standing at distances of sixteen feet square, and 
the corn planted two feet eight inches square, making six 
rows between the rows of trees. Each tree occupied the 
space for five hills of corn, which are not counted in the 
measurement, but if added, would make over one hun¬ 
dred bushels per acre. 
Your advice last spring for the planting of Indian corn, 
if I recollect right, was three feet square, or drilled at 
3 feet by 18 inches. This advice I presume was given 
for the state in which you live, as well as to those living 
in the same latitude east and west. I have planted corn 
as close as this, in latitude about 34^^’ north, and with 
such success, that I would never increase this distance, 
there. Here I plant closer, but as I have never planted 
corn north of Mason & Dixon's line, it would be objected 
to, if I should tell you that I would plant in your latitude, 
two hills upon the same ground you require for one, not¬ 
withstanding the admonitions of 3 mur correspondent, W. 
R. P. 
Cora should be planted so as to give a covering to the 
ground, that will keep in check all other growths, when 
the corn has attained about one-third its matured height; 
and the experience of nine years assures me, that the 
ground on which it grows, cannot be disturbed after this 
height is attained, till maturity, without injury to the 
plant. 
My reasons for close planting are adduced from prac¬ 
tice, and are these: that I get as large ears as when plant¬ 
ed wider, more of them, my field is free from weeds, the 
crop requires less work, and I have a greater amount of 
fodder for my farm stock. 
There is no diminution in the product of seed or fruit, 
from working a plant till the secretions necessary for the 
production of seed, are about being deposited in the plant. 
Experiment confirms to me, that if the primitive roots, 
of such corn as I plant, (a variety of gourd seed,) are in¬ 
jured before the lower leaves upon the stalk have lost 
‘their succulency, a sucker is produced from the crown 
of the root; but I have never been able to produce a suck¬ 
er, by such means as I have tried, after the fourth leaf 
upon the stalk had lost its softness and became firm, at 
which time the stalk will have attained about one-third 
of its matured height. At this stage of growth, I sup¬ 
pose the generant vessels are actively employed; and 
matter is forming and depositing for seed; but where 
and how the generant organs are situated in the corn 
plant, I will not undertake to determine; but I wdll ven¬ 
ture to say, affirmatively, (and this information I pre¬ 
sume will not be “ supererogatory” to one of your read¬ 
ers,) that they are not to be found, either in the tassel 
or silk, the tassel being the conduit, and the silk the re¬ 
cipient for the farina. 
Before the peach tree comes into full bearing, but lit¬ 
tle injury arises from disturbing or displacing the radi¬ 
cles with the plow; but atier they have come into full 
bearing, an injury to the roots produces disease in this 
tree; and if the soil upon which it stands does not con¬ 
tain abundance of food for this plant, the leaves turn yel¬ 
low, and often, if not alwniys, a number of short sickly 
looking sprouts make their appearance upon the main 
stem of the tree or branches; and after this unsuccessful- 
effort of nature to overcome the injury, the tree dies. 
By pulling the leaves off the corn plant, (below where 
the ear is placed upon the stalk,) ami while in their suc¬ 
culent state, no seed is made upon the stalk; but if the 
leaf is permitted to become firm and hard, before it is 
pulled, little or no diminution takes place in the product 
of grain. The same thing occurs in the peach tree, the 
summer growth of leaves being pulled in their succulent 
state, no fruit is obtained the succeeding year. 
Last year I selected two hills of Indian corn, standing 
two feet six inches apart; the leaves were stripped off 
the first, it being the outside hill, when grown to their 
full size, or nearly so, and before they had lost their suc¬ 
culency, pulling one at a time, till I came to where I 
supposed the shoot for the ear would put forth on the 
stalk. The result of this experiment, was a large husk 
without any grain. The other hill was lefjt till the leaves 
had lost their softness and become hard; pulling one at a 
time, each as it became hard, till the height of the ear 
was attained. In this experiment I could perceive no 
difference in grain, the ear being as full, and as large, as 
those standing near it, and where the leaves were not 
disturbed. 
These, and other experiments and observations, have 
induced me to think that the new fibrous roots thrown out 
from the injured radicle, took up and carried matter for 
the first wants of a young plant. Whether this matter is 
the same as the ligneous sap in the more matured plant, 
I do not now propose to inquire; but if it will bear a 
comparison with the first and after wants of the animal 
creation, then we are to infer that the pabulum necessary 
for the young plant, is somewhat different from that re¬ 
quired at a later period of its growth. If it is dissimilar, 
and I have reason to believe it so, then the plant at an 
advanced age, may not be in a condition to receive (his 
new sap, and thus cause disease in several wa 3 ^s. The 
vital principle may be too weak to reject it, and this sap 
may communicate with the fluids necessary at this ma¬ 
tured state of growth, and produce a chemical change in 
the fluids; or this new' protluct of sappy matter may pro¬ 
duce disease by' a change in its own constituency', for 
want of elaboration by the other parts of the plant; or 
the new succiferous roots.'with the parent radicle, for 
want of equiliberate action, may go into decay, and com¬ 
municate disease in this way to the whole plant, &c. I 
am aware of many objections to this theory, and possibly 
the strongest are,that trees are making nev/ wood through¬ 
out the summer, anil that our fruit trees are making W'ood 
and fruit at the same time, and that disease attacks them 
where the roots are not disturbed by the cultivator of the 
soil. I would have it borne in mind, that preparation for 
wood and fruit in perennials, is made the previous year. 
An orchard standing upon a subsoil of stiff clay, the land 
thereinbeing plowed,producesno fruitof any consequence 
the succeeding year; but if the soil in an orchard is light, 
and will permit the roots tr run deeper, so as to be, com¬ 
paratively with the above ease, out of the way of the 
plow, a tolerable crop may be expected the next year. 
In orchards that are worked with the plow, after they be¬ 
gin to produce fruit, we find that those standing upon 
sandy soils are most prolific. The practice of plowing 
orchards after they have begun to bear full crops of fruit, 
is objected to by me, as producing the effects above sta¬ 
ted—so do I suppose my views to compare with Mr. 
Comstock’s proposed new system—and I might say the 
injury done to the trees, by cropping the ground neces ■ 
sary for their support, was the cause for the principal 
part of all their diseases; but as it is not m 3 ' intention, 
at present, to adduce any reasoning upon the theory start¬ 
ed above, and as I may have something to say about or¬ 
chards at some future time, I will conclude by saying that 
I have experiments making for my own satisfaction in 
regard to this subject. With much respect, your friend, 
Lyttleton Physicr. 
Ararat Farm, Cecil co. Md., Feb. 5, 1843. 
“ Dig about, and dung it.” —This direction was 
given many centuries ago, and has often been repeated, 
and perhaps I may say, as often forgotten or neglected. 
Last summer, I took particular care to apply the above 
to some young pear trees. One was a graft, of a year’s 
growth, on a stock of several 3 'ears standing. The 
ground was loosened for some distance about the tree, 
perhaps a dozen times during the season. From a single 
stem, of three feet, the new grow'th measures 30 feet ! 
The effect on all, was very obvious. G. Butler. 
Clinton, N. Y. Feb. 1843. 
