1853. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
141 
nearly all cases that we have observed; the attend¬ 
ance, cost of the erections, or some other formi¬ 
dable drawback, has not been reckoned, or has been 
supplied only by guesswork or vague conjecture. 
Who will give us a series of experiments, accom¬ 
panied with, incontrovertable figures? What 
state agricultural society will offer a liberal pre¬ 
mium for such a series? 
Analysis of Shell Marl. 
The deposit of which the following examina¬ 
tion was made, was shown to me a week or two 
ago, when on a professional visit in that quarter, 
by the gentleman on whose farm it exists, (Cap¬ 
tain James,) near St. Andrews, Charlotte Co., 
and as he seemed anxious to know the manurial 
value which chemical analysis would give it, and as 
similar deposits may exist elsewhere, and other 
parties may want the same information, if you 
think so, the results are at your service as a small 
contribution to a too slowly advancing cause. 
The locality where the bed occurs, is, I would 
say, judging by the eye, about one hundred feet 
above tide water level, in the bottom of a hollow 
between two rising slopes. The breadth of the 
bed, so far as yet ascertained, may be from forty 
to sixty paces, its length two to three hundred, its 
depth not known. This I had from the informa¬ 
tion of the owner, the ground at that time being 
too much frozen to admit of examining. The 
sample taken for analysis I dug myself, from the 
bottom of an open drain in the lowest part of the 
ground, where it is overlaid by about two feet of 
whitish blue, sandy gipouty, clay. Captain James 
informed me, that it is similarly overlaid as far as 
he has examined, and that he has dug three feet 
down through the bed without reaching its bottom. 
This deposite is improperly called a marl. It is 
simply a bed of mussel -shells partially decom¬ 
posed, mixed with sand and clay. The bijssus or 
-beards of some of the mussels are quite fresh and 
strong and the animal matter of the mollusca is 
still adherent in many of the shells converted into 
a sort of adipocere. On heating a small quantity 
in a glass tube, over a spirit lamp, it gave off a 
strong smell like burning horn; and on mixing 
with dry caustic potass and heating, it evolved 
very distinct fumes of ammonia, the precise amount 
of which I had no means at hand of determining. 
A sufficient quantity was powdered and thorough¬ 
ly mixed to secure uniformity of composition, and 
a portion of this on examination gave: 
Per cent. 
Adherent water in the state in which it could be dug, 22.50 
Organic matter, being remains of animal portions of 
mollusc ; having fibres about the shells, and some 
ammonia on its salts,. 3.87 
Carbonate of lime in the form of shells,. 17.50 
Earthy phosphates and oxide of iron,... 3.42 
Sand and clay,. 52.70 
99.99 
The quantity of phosphate of lime tvas quite 
unexpected, and must have been derived from the 
residue of the animal part of the mollusc. The 
oxide of iron would be from the sand and clay, and 
judging from its whitish blue color turning to red on 
burning, was in the state of protoxide, a condition 
known to be adverse to vegetation, till converted 
by exposure to the air into peroxide. There ap¬ 
peared along with the lime , a small quantity of 
common salt , but as it was trifling, and the analy¬ 
sis was only intended to ascertain in a general way, 
the manurial value of the substance, it was not 
isolated. 
The results of the analysis are suggestive of in¬ 
formation, on two points. 1st, the manurial value 
of the deposite. 2d, the best way of using it. 
1st. Its value. Should the whole bed be of equal 
composition with the sample procured, each ton as 
dug, would contain 86 lbs. of organic matter, rich in 
ammonia • 380 lbs. of carbonate of lime, equal in its 
power of furnishing lime to the soil to nearly two 
cwt, of burnt lime, and from 40 to 50 lbs. of bone 
earth. Its value as a means of furnishing lime in 
a condition available as food for plants is remote, 
depending upon the decomposition of the shells; 
its immediate fertilizing efficacy is from the other 
matters it contains. Taking bone-dust or guano, 
as measures of comparison, each ton should be 
equal in immediate effect to two bushels of the 
former, or one-lialf hundred weight of the latter 
provided the whole benefit of its fertilizing ingre¬ 
dients can be secured. 
2d. The mode of using it. As the condition in 
which the animal matter exists is resistant of de¬ 
composition, and would require an amount of at¬ 
mospheric exposure, likely to dissipate the whole 
of the ammonia present the most likely way to 
use it beneficially, would be to dig and dry it in 
summer, and then to remove it under cover • and 
having the stable and cow dung under cover also, 
to mix the two in about equal quantities, adding 
the marl from time to time, as the other manure 
accumulated. The heat of the fermenting ma¬ 
nure would promote the decomposition of both 
the animal and earthy parts of the shells, while 
its being under cover, and not exposed to the air 
or rain, no material portion of either would be 
wasted. Prepared in this way, it would be a high¬ 
ly fertilizing and ready acting compost for any 
kmd of crop, suitable either for drilling in for 
turneps, plowing in, in spring for grain crops, or 
spreading on the surface of grass lands as top 
dressing. W. A. Cuming, Veterinary Surgeon. 
St. John. New-Brunswick. 
Guano and its Application. 
Composition of Guano. —Prof. Way furnishes 
accurate analyses of eight specimens of Peruvian 
Guano, from which we have obtained the follow¬ 
ing mean quantities of each ingredient; and which 
generally do not vary greatly in each specimen: 
Water,. 14.39 
Salts of ammonia and organic matter,. 47.08 
Sand and Silica,. 1.53 
Phosphoric acid, ... 14.61 
Sulphuric acid,. 3.81 
Lime, . 11.32 
Magnesia, .49 
Oxide of iron,.28 
Potash, .. 3.13 
Soda, (very variable,). 1.02 
Chloride of sodium, (variable,). 2.08 
Only one specimen had any chloride of potas¬ 
sium, amounting in this instance to 2.02. The 
large quantity of ammonia and of phosphoric acid 
and lime, will be observed as most conspicuous, 
and which chiefly give this powerful manure its 
value • while the fair proportion of potash consti¬ 
tutes this ingredient one of considerable import¬ 
ance. 
The New-York Jgricultor furnishes the results 
of a very successful experiment with guano, as 
compared with marl and manure. 
