Guano: A Treatise of Practical Information for FarmersRobinson, Solon
Science
Guano: A Treatise of Practical Information for Farmers
Robinson, Solon
Guano
_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.
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