Chapter 7

_Guano for Melons and other Vines._--Mr. Pleasants, of whom we have before spoken, and whose long experience in the use of guano in connection with a market garden, entitle him to a high degree of credit, says, "I have been in the habit of using it for several years, and can testify to its value, not only using it for melons, but for the whole tribe of cucurbitacæ. The mode of application which I prefer is this; when the ground is prepared and checked off, remove the loose soil at the intersections of the furrows, leaving clear spaces on the substratum of not less than eighteen inches in diameter. Upon these spaces sprinkle guano, at the rate one pound to eight hills. Follow with a hilling or grubbing hoe, and incorporate the guano with the subsoil; then draw the loose earth back, and finish by chopping a small quantity, a spadeful or less, of well rotted manure into the hill near the surface. Guano placed near the surface, will remain almost inert, and buried deep, as I recommended, it will be too remote from the seed to give the young plants the quick start which is indispensable to an early crop of melons. The small quantity of manure near the top of the hill answers the purpose of immediate forcing, and enables the roots to strike rapidly into the guano, when the growth of the vines will be stimulated to such a degree as to cause them to mature their fruit a week or ten days earlier than they would do from either guano or manure alone. Melons equally fine may be raised from nothing but guano, applied in the manner directed; but they will not be an early crop, from the fact that the plants remain almost stationary until the roots reach the guano. Last year, from such a preparation as is now recommended, I had as fine a crop of melons as I ever saw; and they began to ripen at a very early period in the season. Two years ago, I had them nearly or quite as good from guano alone; but they were late. This year the crop was almost a failure, from the wetness of the season, which caused the vines to die. Cantelope melons, however, have produced abundantly, grown entirely with the aid of guano. Where manure is scarce, I have no doubt an admirable compost might be prepared, consisting of guano and rich earth. It should be made several weeks, or even months, before it is wanted for use; and the heap worked over frequently in order to bring it into a suitable condition. Such a compost would doubtless supply the place in the hill which I have assigned to the manure. For pumpkins, squashes, cymblins and cucumbers, when it is not particularly desirable to have them early, nothing more is necessary than to prepare the hills with guano."

The following extract from a letter of E. G. Booth, to F. C. Stainbrook, written in that plain familiar style of one friend to another, which characterises the man, with an evident intent to do good; though it was not designed for publication, we give it because we believe it will do others good, as well as the recipient. Mr. Booth confirms our opinion often expressed, that the poor old barren fields of lower Virginia, are really more valuable than the rich lands of the west; because, owing to facilities of intercourse with commercial cities by water, these lands can be bought, and cultivated by aid of guano, with more profit than the richest prairie farm in Illinois. Mr. Booth's testimony upon the durability of this manure, is enough to contradict all the assertions that "it is of no use for only one crop." On his land, strangers can easily tell where guano was applied four years previous.

"Yours of the third has been received, and it affords me pleasure to give you any information in my power. The wheat crop during the the winter was very unpromising. There was a general complaint that it was too thin. The Poland wheat (most generally sown in this neighborhood,) is said to branch more than other kinds, and I regard the present prospect of the wheat crop as flattering, particularly where guano was used. It is now a fixed fact, that no poor land ought to be cultivated without guano, by any person who can command the money or credit to buy it. It is remarkable that it pays a much better profit, or per cent. on the investment, on poor land, than rich. I was inclined for some time to believe that the difference was really in appearance alone. The difference of five bushels increase on land which without it would bring only fifteen--or in other words, an increase from fifteen to twenty bushels to the acre, would not be very perceptible, while an increase of five bushels on land previously making only five, would be very evident. Still, the real increase would be five bushels in each case. I am now however, decidedly of the opinion that it pays a much larger per cent. on poor than rich land; because it supplies that in which poor land is deficient, and of which rich land may have enough. I have it now in strips on a clover fallow, scarcely showing any difference. I last applied it on about the poorest land on my plantation, and the product was remarkable. This circumstance much reduces the difference between the value of poor and rich land, and admonishes us that there is not a plot in our wide extended surface, which need be abandoned or neglected. We can, if we manage properly, support a population which will out vote the West in 1865. There is another fact which experience confirms, that is it is much more durable than at first supposed. My visitors have been able to point out the strips of land on which it was sown, four years after its application. I noticed a very evident effect on the farm of Mr. William Fitzgerald, a few days ago. He last year put it in drills, and hilled on them for tobacco, in the fall the whole surface was sown in wheat, which is now growing in ridges corresponding with the furrows where it was placed.

"While on the subject I will mention another fact different from first impressions, viz: that it is more productive, (the first crop, at least,) when harrowed in with the grain, on the surface, than when turned in very deep. I have yet to satisfy myself which is most durable. In the experiment which lasted four years, I think it was turned in. The purchases the ensuing fall will be very large. Those who were most incredulous are now going in largely. A very intelligent and enterprising friend of mine, who has been improving his land judiciously and profitably in this way, related to me an anecdote which occurred to him. He had two neighbors remarkable for their judgment and success in farming as well as other things, who, however, were inclined to underrate his expenditure of money in these elements of improvement. They knew he had purchased and used a ton of guano, and thought they knew where he had used the whole of it. They went, not exactly by night, but rather privately, to examine into the result. They made their observations and calculations, and agreed that he had got his money back, but no profit worthy consideration, and were only confirmed in their opposition to such an expenditure. The truth was, however, that only about one eighth of the ton had been used where they calculated for the whole. One of these gentlemen, I am informed, is now about the largest purchaser of such articles in the county; and perhaps the other also, though I have not been informed."

PLASTER WITH GUANO.

A Virginia farmer, in a letter of December 1847, in speaking of using plaster with guano, and the effect says--"I am a firm believer in the merits of the mixture, and always use it. I have used it on turnips with decided effect, as decided as that following any application of guano I ever saw. Several farmers of my acquaintance used the mixture of guano and plaster, and stable manure and plaster habitually, like myself, and one told me he used it half and half, producing the most marked effect on wheat, and that a neighbor of his had used it in the same proportion with the same effect--the usual surprising effect of guano. For myself, I used some $400 worth of guano on wheat this fall, the whole of it mixed with plaster. I believe the effect of the mixture will not be so vigorous on the first crop, as guano by itself--the plaster husbanding the ammonia for succeeding crops, upon which the mixture, (if the theory be correct,) will have more effect than guano unmixed, that being exhausted by the first crop."

A gentleman after making sundry careful experiments with plaster and carbonate of ammonia, thus expresses his conclusions--"These experiments prove to me that no matter in what state, (whether _wet_, _moist_, or _dry_,) plaster is presented to guano, or any other manure from which the carbonate of ammonia is escaping, it must retain a certain amount of ammonia that would otherwise be lost in the atmosphere."

The editor of the American Farmer says--"If the soil be poor, and it be desired to permanently improve it, at least four hundred pounds of guano, without respect to the fixer used, should be spread _broadcast_, on every acre of it, and plowed in to the full depth of the furrow. If the land be in moderate heart, three hundred pounds will be enough per acre. Where the soil may be good, two hundred will be sufficient. These quantities, as the reader will observe, have relation to broadcast applications, as all should be where general improvement is contemplated; if compelled to confine his experiments on corn to applications in the hill, a form of manuring, we have ever disapproved, two hundred pounds, or even one hundred of guano, will manure an acre, mixed with a bushel of plaster, five bushels of slaked ashes, and a double horse cart of wood mould more effective than ten loads of manure applied in the hill."

Yes, as has been proved by careful experiment made in England, more than fourteen tons of manure. The editor also says, what we have so often repeated--"We hold these to be agricultural truths--that guano is most beneficially applied, when ploughed in as spread on the the earth, never less than four inches deep--and better, for permanent effect, to be ploughed in deeper, say six to eight inches--where it may be desirable only to bury it four inches deep, the land should be previously ploughed as deep as the furrow can be turned up, and the guano applied at a second ploughing--that all top-dressings with guano are wasteful, inasmuch, as from the volatile nature of the more active parts of the manure, great loss must inevitably result from all such applications, and because, more moisture than is to be found on the surface, is necessary to excite, and carry on, that healthful progressive state of decomposition, which is required to render guano most available for present production and future improvement.

"We do not hesitate to express the opinion, that when properly used, as an adjunct to lime or marl, that it will bring up any sound worn out land, to at least its original degree, if not a greater degree of fertility; provided its application be followed by clover. We believe that, when properly applied to land, either limed or marled the previous year, it will add twenty-five, thirty, and, in some instances, forty per cent. to the product of wheat; besides infusing into the soil, the capacity to grow luxuriant crops of clover, and thus fit it for profitable future culture. If it will do this, and we are certain it will, then it will achieve all that any agriculturist can reasonably expect of it, or of any other fertilizing agent; and we are very sure there is no other manure equally efficacious, within the reach of farmers and planters.

"Guano differs much in quality; that from Peru, is confessedly best of any which has yet been submitted to actual experiment by agriculturists, or tested by the analysis of chemists, being much richer in its nitrogenous element, than either the Patagonian or African variety."

He also says--"400 lbs. of guano and 1 bushel of plaster, will ensure a good crop of corn, so will 200 lbs. guano and eight bushels of bone earth, or 20 bushels of bone earth, 10 bushels of ashes and 1 bushel of plaster. Each to be ploughed in."

Much more might be said in favor of using plaster with guano, or some other fixer of ammonia, wherever it is exposed, on or near the surface. We add a few more extracts mainly to show that deep ploughing, and plentiful manuring, are the sure guarantee of bountiful crops. Bone-dust, except when used in the drill, should always be harrowed in. It should be put in bulk with other matters, and excited into an incipient state of decomposition before being used.

Guano should always be ploughed in, if practicable. Harrowing and cultivating in guano "have been practised both in this country and in England, by intelligent farmers; and in various instances have been spoken approvingly of, success having attended such applications in single crops; but we doubt whether much, if any permanent benefit were done to the soil, in qualifying it for the production of the subsequent crops of a course of rotation. In Peru it is used topically, but such applications are always followed by immediate irrigations of the soils to which it is applied, the Peruvians acting upon the philosophical principal, whether they comprehend its theory or not, that to secure the nutrient properties of this active fertilizer to their growing crops, it is essential that they provide an absorbent, and that they find in the water furnished by their processes of irrigation. Experience, practice, and irrigation have taught them, that unless they cause the carbonate of ammonia, and the various compound substances with which it exists in the guano, to descend speedily to the roots of their plants, that from the volatility of its more active and efficient elements, they will be expelled by the heat of the sun, escape into the air, and be lost for all the purposes of vegetable growth.

"But in view of the whole ground, taking into consideration the evanescent nature of any ammonia in guano in the compounds in which it exists, to be converted into that form, we honestly believe, that so far as lasting benefit to the land may be concerned, guano should be ploughed in.

"In all tolerably good Guano, there is a sufficiency of the carbonate already formed to carry on healthful vegetation, and therefore, it is best to place it sufficiently deep to prevent the waste of an element so essential to the growth of plants, and so liable to loss.

"It is possible where the soil had been, by repeated harrowings, reduced to a state of very fine tilth, that guano may be covered sufficiently deep with the Cultivator to become mixed with, and consequently be absorbed by the vegetable remains of the earth, and thus be prevented from loss by escape of its volatile gases; especially would this be the case, if the process of cultivating it in, were soon after followed by penetrating rains. In admitting this, we still adhere to the opinion, that so far as permanent benefits are concerned, the most economical mode of applying guano to the earth, is by the plough.

"As soon as the guano is ploughed in, the wheat should be sowed and harrowed in, in the usual way. In our climate we can sow wheat on the poorest corn ground late in November and have as fine a crop, and harvest it as soon, as we can obtain from well prepared and fallowed without guano sowed early in the season, For every 100 lbs. of guano, not exceeding 250 lbs. we calculate on reaping of an average season from six to seven bushels, sometimes eight. From a greater quantity though the product will be increased, yet it will not be increased in the same proportion, and 200 lbs will also be sufficient for the production of two good grass crops following the wheat and will then leave the land in an improved condition."

_Charcoal and Guano._--The benefit of charcoal with guano will be understood from the following extract from "Scientific Agriculture," on the nature of charcoal and its use as a manure.--"Charcoal on account of its power of absorbing gases and destroying offensive odors, is a valuable addition to the soil; its operation as a manure is not so direct as some other manures; that is, it is not so useful on account of any element it furnishes to plants, as by the intermediate office which it performs, of absorbing and retaining in the soil those volatile matters which plants require, and which would otherwise escape and be lost. It is beneficial as a top-dressing, and as an ingredient in composts; it evolves carbonic acid in its decomposition, and is in this way directly useful to plants. Its powerful antiseptic properties render it very useful to young and tender plants, by keeping the soil free of putrifying substances, which would otherwise destroy their spongioles and prevent their growth."

And its capacity to absorb many times its bulk of gaseous matter, will always give it value as an absorbent of escaping ammonia from surface dressings of guano.

The editor of the Farmer also says--"In our climate, we should be opposed to all topical applications of any strongly concentrated manure like guano by itself,--and, indeed we should, under all circumstances, prefer to have it ploughed in, if practicable; but as we presume our correspondent has been prevented by circumstances, from using guano at the time of ploughing for wheat; and of course, must avail himself of the next best plan of deriving benefit from its use, we would advise, him next spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground, and it is in a state to bear a team; to mix, in the proportion of 100 lbs. of guano, one bushel of fine charcoal, and one peck of plaster per acre, then to sow the mixture over his wheat field, lightly harrow the ground, and finish by rolling; and we have no hesitation in saying, that his wheat crop will be benefitted more than twice the cost of the manure. We say to him farther that he need not fear injuring his wheat plants by the operation of harrowing and rolling; for, on the contrary, it will act as a working, and prove of decided advantage. We feel very certain that the admixture of charcoal and plaster with guano, together with the covering it will receive by the harrowing, will prevent any material loss of the ammoniacal principles of the latter; as independent of the affinity existing between charcoal, plaster, and all nitrogeneous bodies, they will be greatly aided by the vital principle of the plants themselves. We are not, however, left to the lights of theory alone, in this matter, but have the experience of the Honorable Mr. Pearce, of Kent county, of this State, to guide us to a practical result,--he used, some years since, a top-dressing of guano and plaster upon his wheat field, and was rewarded by a large increase of crop."

A correspondent says--"I am satisfied from experience and observation in the use of guano for the last twelve years, that the best method, decidedly, of applying it to our crops in this dry climate, is to plow and spade it into the ground; and autumn is the best season for doing this, as it gives time for the pungent salts contained in the guano to get thoroughly mixed with the soil before spring planting. Do not fear to lose the guano, by plowing it as deep as you please--it will not run away, depend upon it. At the south it loses half its virtue if not plowed in at least three inches deep; six to twelve inches would be still better.

"Spread broadcast on grass land, late in the fall or early in the spring, if not plowed in before sowing buckwheat, rye or wheat, then spread it broadcast after sowing the grain, and harrow well and roll the land. This last operation is quite important."

_Value of Guano on account of its Phosphates._--He who wishes to have the best grazing grounds, where he can present the richest and most nutritious herbage to his cattle, will keep his ground well supplied or manured with guano that abounds in phosphates, knowing that it will supply the needed nutriment to the grass, and by the grass to the cattle; and thus his stock will be kept in a high condition and full flesh, either for the farm or the market.

Again; he who raises wheat, corn, or other grains, has an equal inducement to look to it that his manures are abundantly impregnated with these essential elements. Phosphates, so available to the raiser of stock, are equally so to the producer of grain; because the size, richness, and nutritious qualities of the grain depend largely on the presence of these in the soil. A farmer, therefore, has a vital interest in this matter, and should obtain what best suits his purpose. The most intelligent English farmers are so well convinced on this point, that substances containing only ten per cent. of phosphate of lime, are sought after, dissolved in sulphuric acid and water, and sprinkled on the soil. Bone dust also is used, and to a certain extent, is available, because one of the principal constituents of bones, is phosphate of lime. But the article in which the phosphates are the most convenient, because the most minutely distributed, is guano; and this, when judiciously used, must find favor wherever it can be obtained.

That which contains a large proportion of phosphates, in combination with ammonia, nitrogen and alkaline salts, apparently in the exact proportion required by nature, such as analysis and experience proves is the case with Peruvian guano, will be sought after by every farmer who reads the evidence of its value which we have given in these pages.

It is idle to talk of bones to restore the waste of phosphates in the soil that is being constantly carried away in grass and grain, beef, pork, mutton, milk and cheese, much of which passes into the sea from the sewers of cities, to be there retained in that great reservoir for the future use of men. It is from that we are now drawing our present supplies. Happily for mankind in all civilized countries, the discovery of guano has, in a providential manner, met the very wants of the times, in reference to the reinvigoration of certain kinds of soil, since this manure furnishes the elements most needed to supply the waste arising from cultivation, and to develop vegetation.