Guano: A Treatise of Practical Information for FarmersRobinson, Solon
Science
Guano: A Treatise of Practical Information for Farmers
Robinson, Solon
Guano
No one can doubt the true statement of this report, which proves $7 50.
worth of guano equal to 20 tons of manure--reducing the worth of that
to one shilling and sixpence--about 34 cents--per ton, or one dollar a
cord. Now, as manure is often estimated in this country by the cord, and
valued at about $4, and applied at the rate of 6 cords per acre, it
follows that a saving of $14 50 per acre may be made by using 250 lbs.
of guano instead of purchasing the manure. This Yorkshire experiment
exactly corresponds with those made in this country, some of which we
have detailed, and which proves that a farmer cannot buy manure at the
common selling prices; and if he hauls his own the distance of a mile,
he will expend more value of time, than it is worth to him on the land;
because the same value of time--"time is money"--expended for guano,
will bring him better returns. In this, as before stated, we are
confirmed by Professor Mapes; and here is the opinion of Mr. Hovey of
Boston, the eminent horticulturist, which we find in the August No. of
his magazine, as follows--
"If, after such evidence as this, farmers will continue to buy ashes at
eight cents a bushel, or manure at three to six dollars a cord,
including carting, and use them alone, then let them do so, but they
should not complain that their crop cost more than it comes to. To
orchardists and fruit growers, this information is of the greatest
value, and we trust they will not let it pass unheeded."
This opinion is valuable because it has been stoutly asserted, that
however well guano might answer at the South, it was of no use in the
hard soil and cold climate of New England. This is a fallacy which will
soon be cured by knowledge, and self-interest is a very strong prompter
towards the acquisition of the knowledge, that guano is the best,
cheapest, most suitable, convenient and productive manure ever used by a
New England farmer, and just as suitable for that climate and soil as it
is for Virginia. We assert, without fear of successful contradiction,
that there is not a farm--not a field--covered with five-finger vines
and mullens, in the State of Massachusetts, which may not be made to
produce as profitable crops, by the use of guano, as any Connecticut
river farm. Farmers are about the hardest class of men in the world to
learn new doctrines; or that science has anything to do with the
business of this life, and what all other life in a civilized country is
dependent upon. Yet science teaches, by unerring truths, that the plants
the farmer cultivates, are composed of carbon, obtained by plants
chiefly from the soil and atmosphere; oxygen and hydrogen, obtained by
plants chiefly from water, carbonic acid, &c.; nitrogen obtained by
plants chiefly from manure, and also from rain and snow; silicium, in
combination with oxygen, called _silicia_ or sand; lime in combination
with phosphoric and other acids; potash and soda in combination with
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account