Guano: A Treatise of Practical Information for FarmersRobinson, Solon
Science
Guano: A Treatise of Practical Information for Farmers
Robinson, Solon
Guano
Mr. Pleasants, although many experiments have failed, principally, as he
believes, from improper application, says in a recent letter--"There is
no actual reason why guano should not act as well on tobacco as any
other crop. The failures are doubtless to be ascribed to the injudicious
manner in which it has been applied. I can conceive of only one mode in
which it can be used to advantage, and that is by strewing it along a
deep furrow as described for corn; then bedding upon it and confining
the cultivation to one direction. This has been my way of cultivating
cabbages for the market for several years, and the guano has always
acted promptly and powerfully. If chopped in at the base of the hill it
would require a great quantity of rain to dissolve it and make it
available to the young plants, for the conical shape of the hill has a
tendency to shed the rain instead of absorbing it. I expect soon to
receive very accurate results of a crop grown with guano, which Judge
Nash represented to me as splendid. If I cultivated tobacco, I should
have every confidence of success by planting it on ridges with the Guano
buried at a considerable depth, say from four to six inches beneath the
surface of the ridge--1 lb. to ten yards would be a sufficient quantity.
"In short, I consider guano good for any crop. For potatoes (that is
Irish potatoes) I regard it as a specific manure. The quantity I apply
is 3/4 lbs. to every ten yards put in the furrows as recommended for
corn and tobacco, and then covered over about one inch with earth drawn
from the sides of the furrows. After this the potato cuttings are
planted and covered over with the plough or hoe. The quantity
recommended is about right as far as my experience goes (which is of
several years duration) if the cuttings are placed about two inches
apart."
_Guano for Cotton._--But few trials upon this crop have come to our
knowledge, but such as have, indicate that it will prove one of the most
valuable promoters of the growth of this staple product of America ever
discovered. The analysis of cotton--stalk, seed and lint--compared with
that of guano, is sufficient to prove the latter to be the very matter
required to produce the former. We are assured upon the most reliable
authority that guano will give an average increase of pound for pound
upon any soil producing less than a bale per acre so that every pound of
guano costing two and a half cents, will give a pound of cotton
averaging at least 6-1/4 cents.
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