Guano
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Solon Robinson >> Guano
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For ruta baga turnips, there should be 600 lbs. sown to the acre;
plow twice and harrow well after sown. After you have hoed them
out, give them a light top dressing of more guano. I have raised at
the rate of 700 bushels, managed in that way, to the acre. We have
had one of the most extreme drouths the present season I ever
remember. Crops on which guano was used, have suffered less, and
are now yielding better than where stable manure has been used.
This is quite different from the opinion that some have formed, as
to guano requiring a wet season. To prepare guano for use, it
should first be sifted, to separate the lumps, so that they may be
pulverized, then dampen by sprinkling with water, and mixed through
with a shovel. This should be done a few days before you wish to
use it, so as to allow the dampness to strike through uniform. (3)
I have not had any experience with compost, or using it on garden
vegetables, or plants, except I know it should be used in
homeopathic doses, or it will destroy more than it will produce. As
to the soil, guano answers well anywhere on Long Island, although
some parts of the Island has a very different soil from others,
with one exception; that is, it is all hungry for manure. I
therefore do not know the kind of soil it is most applicable to,
since it seems to suit all kinds.
SETH CHAPMAN."
NOTE 1. This practice of hauling manure to the field in the
fall, is the worst of all the foolish old fashions of farmers. To
preserve the virtue, of manure, it requires housing about as much as
hay. In fact, it is doubtful which would lose virtue fastest, a pile of
hay or a pile of manure, exposed to the storms of winter. It is no
wonder that it becomes necessary to mix guano with it, to replace that
which has evaporated during its long exposure to sun and storm.
NOTE 2. This increase of straw, is seldom taken into account in
speaking of the advantage of an application of guano; yet, as Mr.
Chapman says, it is worth enough in the vicinity of a market, to pay the
whole expense. It is also valuable in the interior for forage and
manure.
NOTE 3. This is an error. Guano should not be damped unless
with water saturated with salt, copperas, or a liberal sprinkle of
plaster over the pile.
LETTER FROM SETH RAVNOR, OF MANORVILLE TO MR.
CHAPMAN.--Successful experiments on grass, oats, corn, wheat and
rye.
"_Manorville, Sept._ 8, 1852.
S. CHAPMAN, ESQ.--Dear Sir;--I have received your circular
proposing to gather information from practical farmers of the
results from the use of guano, and to have the same published for
general circulation. Conceiving the object to be a very laudable
one, I will give the result of a few experiments tried with
Peruvian guano by myself, and others which have come under my
observation; but in doing so I think it would be of great utility
to state what kind of soil the guano was applied to. Not being a
professor of geology, I can only use such terms as are familiar
with farmers generally. The soils in this vicinity are heavy loam,
sandy loam, sandy, and occasionally some heavy clayey soils.
First, as to the nature of guano. It is generally considered to be
more of a stimulant than an enricher of the soil, if applied in its
natural state, and much more durable to be plowed in than to be
harrowed in; and as far as I have tried it, I have not found it to
be injurious to soils--or as some call it, 'kill the soil.' In the
year '49 I applied on the first of April, 176 lbs. per acre on
sandy loam grass ground--yield, about half a ton more than the acre
adjoining. Same year applied about 150 lbs. to the acre, on four
acres of oats, same kind of soil, and the estimated increase was 20
bushels to the acre. In 1850 plowed under 400 pounds per acre, for
corn, estimated increase, 15 bushels of ears. The season was rather
unfavorable for corn. In '51 composted six bushels charcoal dust to
100 lbs. guano, and plowed under for wheat, at the rate of 500 lbs.
of guano so composted, to the acre, and top dressed with 100
bushels of leached ashes--yield, 20 bushels. One of my neighbors
applied for three years in succession, 100 lbs. harrowed in with
rye, on two acres light sand--yield, 14 bushels to the acre; 10
bushels more than the acre adjoining. On the fourth year he sowed
the same ground without guano--- yield, 4 bushels to the acre. We
see by this, that the crop used the whole strength of the guano.
Another neighbor applied one ton to two acres, heavy loam; plowed
under and sowed with turnips (common Russian)--yield, 1,300
bushels--estimated increase from the guano, 600 bushels. People in
this section of the Island are agreed in this--plow under guano for
durability, and harrow in for present benefit, or present crop. For
wheat, 500 lbs. plowed in is considered a full dressing per acre.
The same for corn. For oats, 200 lbs. harrowed in. For buckwheat,
100 lbs., and 200 for barley. One tablespoonful applied in a hill,
for corn, is quite enough, and that requires to be put some six
inches from the seed; otherwise it will kill it. Some have lost
acres by putting their corn on that little quantity; the only safe
way to apply in the hill for potatoes, is the same as for corn. I
have come to the conclusion from what experience I have had with
the article, that it answers the best purpose to use it for spring
crops, in the manner above stated, or compost it with charcoal
dust, or well decomposed pond mud, to absorb and retain the
ammonia, it being very volatile in its nature. I have not written
this for publication; I have only thrown out a few hints for you to
embody.
SETH RAYNOR."
Although the above was not written for publication, we prefer to give it
just as it was written, in the plain style of one farmer to another.
INTERESTING LETTER FROM EDWARD H. SEAMAN, ESQ., SEC. OF QUEENS CO.
AG. SOC.--Successful experiments since 1847--Great increase of
straw and wheat--Harrowing in guano, 300 lbs. to the acre, produced 41
bushels of wheat. Increase, seven bushels for each 100 lbs--Thirty
bushels of wheat per acre on an old worn out buckwheat field--Advantage
of guano in drouth--astonishing effects from top dressing grass.
_Cherrywood, Sept. 11th, 1852._
MR. SETH CHAPMAN--Dear Sir,--I forward according to
request, the results of several years use of Peruvian Guano, upon
my farm at Jerusalem, Long Island.
The first decisive benefit from guano that I shall notice, was
obtained from using it for wheat, as a top-dressing. In 1847,
October 1st, I took a field containing 6 acres of oat stubble, on
which I used some manure, all over the field; top-dressed with
Peruvian guano, at the rate of 300 lbs. per acre, sown (fortunately
just before a storm,) upon the furrow and harrowed in with the
wheat. Four acres of the field were sown with the old-fashioned red
flint wheat, which requires more manure than any other kind among
us. The rest of the field was sown with a soft white hulled wheat,
the name of which I do not remember. July 5, 1848.--Harvested said
field--Red wheat yielded well from straw, 14 sheaves to the
bushel--white wheat 20 sheaves to the bushel--straw very large and
thick. Had 164 bushels of wheat, or 41 bushels per acre; and 58
bushels of white wheat or 29 bushels per acre; without the guano I
think I could not have obtained much over 20 bushels per
acre.--1848, Oct. 2. Again sowed wheat upon a six acre lot of oat
stubble; seed red flint wheat--manured about the same as previous
year--used 300 lbs. guano per acre, as top-dressing for 4 acres and
moss bunker fish dirt at the rate of 10,000 per acre upon the two
acres, sowed upon the furrow, and harrowed in just previous to a
storm--Harvested the 10th of July 1849. The straw very large, and
wheat heads long, but grain very much injured by fly or
weevil--very little difference between fish and guano top-dressing;
yield 188 shocks--175 bushels; not quite 30 bushels per acre. Same
ground would not have produced more than 18 to 20 bushels wheat per
acre without the guano--or some other more expensive manure. 1849.
Oct. 3. Sowed wheat upon oat stubble field; soil thin and gravelly
upon part of the field--used some barnyard manure, but not as much
as previous year. Top-dressed with 300 lbs. guano and 12 bushels
ground bones per acre--Harvested 12th July 1850--Yield of 5-1/2
acres 160 shocks; injured some by weevil, and shrunken, but had 145
bushels or twenty-six bushels per acre. This ground would not have
yielded fifteen bushels per acre without the guano. But the most
decisive result was obtained the next year, upon an oat stubble
field of six acres, a part of which had been cropped, for perhaps
15 years, nearly alternately with rye and buckwheat; (sometimes a
crop of each in one year.) The whole field seemed so far exhausted
that we had failed to get a crop of corn or oats from it after two
different trials; and I underwent no small share of ridicule from
my neighbors, while preparing it for wheat. Remarks like the
following were of daily occurrence--"Ah! Seaman you will fail this
time." "You have not got your old highly manured fields to exhaust
this time by your stimulating stuff!" "We shall now see whether
guano is good for anything--this will be a fair test, because the
land will not produce anything without it, &c." "You may get about
12 bushels of wheat per acre; we shall see." All agreed however,
that if wheat did grow, guano should have the credit for it.
Well, we prepared the ground in about the usual manner, except
perhaps plowing a little deeper than in former years. A small
quantity of manure was plowed under, and a top dressing of ground
bones given and sowed about the last of September--2 acres with
Mediterranean and 4 acres with the red flint wheat--but owing to a
scarcity of the article, could only get about 420 lbs. of guano,
which was sown across the field upon not quite 3 acres, covering
some of each kind of wheat; it was sown upon the furrow, and
harrowed in with the wheat as usual. In 1851, April 11th, top
dressed the whole field with guano, at about 200 lbs. per acre;
harvested about the 8th July. The 2 acres of Mediterranean yielded
61 bushels; flint wheat straw very large, and thick upon the
ground, but grain much injured by the weevil; yielding an average
of 23 bushels per acre. I may remark, that where the guano was
applied in the autumn, the crop was quite one third greater than
where it only received the spring dressing. The last year I managed
much in the same way, except that I fell short of manure, and
depended entirely upon guano and bone upon a part of the field,
from which part, though I have not yet threshed it, I think I shall
get 18 to 20 bushels. The rest of the field was very large and
considered the best between this place and Brooklyn, on a road of
25 miles in length.
My _good luck_(1) at wheat growing is now a conceded point. Now for
other crops--for corn I have not been very successful; generally
mixing some guano with earth in the hill at the time of planting
and getting but few plants to stand; these, however, generally have
been heavily eared. By mixing previously with charcoal dust I think
this burning of the seed might be avoided.(2)
For buckwheat, I used 120 to 150 lbs. per acre, sown upon the
furrow and harrowed in with the grain. For barley, 150 to 200 lbs.
per acre; oats 100 to 120 lbs; turnips, 600 to 700 lbs. plowed
under a short depth, previously to forming the drill; and I find a
decided profit in using guano for all the above crops. I have seen
a field of corn the present season very greatly improved in earing
by the application of about 150 lbs. of guano, mixed with 5 parts
charcoal dust, and thrown around the hills a few weeks since during
a rain storm.
I have also used guano and charcoal dust, five parts coal to one of
guano, in my garden, the past season, and found the beds thus
dressed stood the extreme drought better than other parts of the
garden. One more case of my own and I am done. In 1851, I sowed
about 90 lbs. of guano, on a piece of meadow or mowing ground,
covering a little more than half an acre, from which the timothy
and clover was nearly gone; I took 3 lands across the lot, leaving
about 20 feet between each land. Where the guano was sown, the
timothy grew large and thick and bore the drought, and yielded
about one and a half tons per acre; while the rest of the field did
not produce more than half that amount, and that of an inferior
quality of grass. The corn upon the same field the present season,
shows plainly a better yield from the above top-dressing. From
observation and experience, I would recommend the mixing of guano
with charcoal dust, equal parts, or five parts coal to one guano,
It is much more pleasant to handle when thus mixed, being
completely deodorized and rendered much more enduring as a manure,
by retaining the ammonia for several years, instead of allowing the
greater part to pass off the first season, as is the case when
applied in a crude state, especially as a top dressing.
Prepared or decomposed muck if used with guano as a retainer of the
volatile gases, in all cases where it can be conveniently obtained
especially in soils where evaporation is so rapid as it is in most
parts of Long Island, will pay.
That like produces like, is a favorite maxim with me--that it is
necessary to replace the matter, both organic and inorganic, which
we take from the soil in the form of crops, of various kinds--that
by supplying the necessary chemical ingredients, we shall be able
to draw a great proportion of our crops from atmospheric
agents--that the necessity for using such an immense amount of
organic matter as we now use in the shape of barn yard and stable
manure will be partially overcome--that a great saving of expense
will thereby ensue--that guano is one of the most active agents to
effect such a result I am fully satisfied, not sufficient perhaps
of itself, but highly useful even in a crude state--and capable
when skillfully combined with others, to effect an entire
revolution in our system of agriculture.
If you think the above worth an insertion in the pamphlet you spoke
of, you are at liberty to insert it--if not, you will please return
the letter to me, as soon as convenient, and if you think it will
pass off any better, you may affix the following signature to the
communication.
EDWARD H. SEAMAN, Recording Secretary,
Queen's Co. Agricultural Society.
NOTE 1.--Yes, that is the word--_good luck_--it is all
good luck. It is astonishing how many farmers there are in this
country who will stand with their hands in their breeches pockets,
fumbling idle dollars, while a neighbor expends his for guano, and
produces a fine crop of wheat upon an old worn out buckwheat field;
at which they stare in stupid wonder at the good luck of the thing.
What a pity it had not been the good luck of such men to have been
born with common sense enough to profit themselves by their
neighbors good luck.
NOTE 2.--It would be far better to sow the guano broadcast
and plow it in, or scatter it in drills and turn a light furrow on
it before planting.
"_Hempstead, Aug.27, 1852._
SETH CHAPMAN, ESQ.--Dear Sir:--I believe I was the first
person in Queens County using guano; having imported some from
England in the ship Yorkshire, in 1842. This was from the Ichaboe
Islands. I have since used nearly all the varieties, and consider
the Peruvian the cheapest and best.
In applying guano, I think by making a compost, the greatest
benefit is derived; say one peck of plaster, one bushel of loam,
two of saw dust, mixed up a month or six weeks before using. From
100 to 200 lbs. of guano is enough for a crop of oats or buckwheat.
I have not found it to succeed with corn or potatoes; probably from
being accompanied by a dry season. The best wheat I ever raised was
from using 350 lbs. to the acre, composted. This was on a light
soil, and returned 31 bushels to the acre, on seven acres, weighing
62 lbs. The grass was poor after it. As a top dresser, I have used
200 lbs. per acre, very early in the spring, on half a lot, which
mowed more than half as much again as the part not dressed. One of
my neighbors has used 300 lbs. per acre, plowed in for potatoes;
the yield, good, so far, having just commenced digging.
JOHN HAROLD."
We might give much more evidence of the same kind, to prove that every
barren acre upon Long Island, might be made productive by a judicious
and profitable application of guano; but if there are any persons, who,
after reading these pages, are still doubting, we must say they are most
incorrigably determined not to profit by the experience of others. To
such it would be useless to say more.
_Successful Experiment with Guano as a Top Dressing on Wheat, in North
Carolina._--On page 17, we gave some account of the application of guano
by Henry K. Burgwyn, Esq., since which, we have been favored with the
following letter from his brother, T. Pollock Burgwyn, written, as will
be seen, not for publication, but simply to give the party from whom he
purchased the guano, a detail of his success.
"_New York, Sept._ 20, 1852.
MESSRS. A. B. ALLEN &. Co.--Dear Sir:--Having promised
that I would furnish you with the result of my application of the
21 tons of guano which I purchased of you last winter, I proceed
now to do so, and give you full liberty to quote my experience in
favor of the use of that most invaluable manure, to all who are
anxious to profit by the experience of others without incurring any
risk of their own. My object, and it should be that of every one
who has used guano, is to extend the knowledge of its great value
to any owner of poor soil, like the worn out plantations of North
Carolina. I applied 20 tons of this guano as a top dressing to a
field of 200 acres, which had been seeded in wheat under most
unfavorable circumstances. At the time of application, so
unpromising was the appearance of the growing wheat, that my
manager and myself thought it almost a waste of money and labor to
try this experiment,(1) but as the rest of my crop did not require
any manure, I resolved to see what would be the effect. I am
confident the field would not have averaged, without the top
dressing, seven bushels per acre--it yielded rather over 13
bushels, besides securing to me a full setting of clover.(2)
My mode of application was as follows; to each 200 lbs of guano I
added two bushels of ashes and a bushel of plaster mixed
intimately, and then sown broadcast, at the rate of six and a half
bushels per acre, harrowed in with a light harrow. This application
was made in March, and the early part of April, and in less than
three weeks after the application, the wheat had undergone an
entire change, from a yellow, sickly color, to a dark luxuriant
green. The application had evidently infused new life and vigor
into the plants, and as the result proved, very nearly or quite
doubled its product. So much for the crop of wheat; but what was
still more valuable to me, in my system of farming, it likewise
secured for me a full crop of clover, which would certainly have
failed but for this application. I also applied one ton of this
guano mixed in the same way, to a small field of oats. I plowed
this under with a small plow, together with the oats; the result
was equally gratifying. My chief object in this last experiment,
was to secure me a small field of clover, near my stables, and in
this I fully succeeded; which I feel assured I should not have done
but for the guano. My brother and myself have made various
experiments of late years, with guano, and concur in the testimony
of all those who have tested its value, carefully and judiciously,
in pronouncing it to be the most expeditious renovater of the soil
within the farmer's reach; and exclusive of the farm yard, the most
economical of all manures. In proof of my conviction of its value
to me, I shall this fall give you an order for 20 or 30 tons more.
I will only add that I consider every wheat grower who would study
his own interest, will find it by trying similar experiments.
T. POLLOCK BURGWYN."
NOTE 1. In a subsequent conversation with Mr. Burgwyn, he
stated a fact which makes this point much stronger. After ordering the
guano, he left home, giving his farm manager orders to apply if to that
particular piece of wheat as soon as it arrived. Owing to the fact that
the seed was injured--that the land was in a very unfit condition from
poverty and drouth to produce a crop of wheat, it had assumed such a
miserable appearance before the arrival of the guano, that the manager
wrote to Mr. B. his opinion of the utter folly of applying anything so
expensive to a crop already struck with death. Not imagining how very
unpromising was the prospect of success, Mr. B. immediately wrote to him
to go ahead as directed. Before the application was completed he
returned home, and his first impression was to stop the work at once and
give up the field as lost; but on examining the effect upon that part
where the guano was first applied, he found it had already infused new
vigor into the plants, for they had put off their sickly yellow color,
and taken on a vigorous green; and therefore he decided at once to go
on, which as will be seen by the result, was a most valuable decision.
NOTE 2. From personal knowledge of this very field, we are
confident it would not have yielded without the guano, one half of seven
bushels. It is a flat surface, clayey loam, and badly affected by winter
rains, and such freezing and thawing as it had during the last severe
winter. Besides it was a few years since, when it came into the
possession of Mr. Burgwyn, one of those old worn out, skinned-to-death
places, so common in that State, which all the deep plowing and good
farming of that gentleman had not been able to restore, until he luckily
hit upon guano; which notwithstanding the most unfavorable
circumstances, has given him conclusive proof of its inestimable value.
To say nothing of the ten bushels of wheat per acre, which we are
confident he gained, the clover is worth more than the guano cost; and
without it, one might almost as soon expect to grow clover upon Coney
Island beach, as upon that field.
This letter contains testimony of inestimable value. It comes from a
gentleman of intelligence and careful observation, who is devoted to his
profession of a farmer, and who has been one of the most successful
renovators of worn out plantations in the south, and it comes very
opportunely to give our work an appropriate FINALE.
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