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soil. Let not foreign manures of any sort, nor those manu-
factured in our midst, however pompously advertised or ex-
travagantly puffed, be substituted for it.

Stable and barn-yard manures must be the main depen-
dence of the great body of our farmers. Do not then let it
be neglected. Treat it as I have shown above, and there will
be less reason for our farmers to submit to the extortions of
foreign or domestic manure dealers.

Peruvian Guano stands, as to composition and character,
next to stable manure, particularly to that which is in an
advanced state of putrefaction. It contains but a small quan-
tity of humus, the whole of its organic part, amounting to
50 per cent., consists of nitrogenous compounds, capable of
yielding, in the course of putrefaction, about one-third of
their own weight of ammonia. The balance being about 40
per cent, of mineral matters, mostly phosphate of lime, and
10 per cent, of water. This composition shows at once the
article to be a highly concentrated manure; it is, in fact, the
most concentrated of all fertilizers of commerce; and practice
has long since given abundant evidence in its favor. I have
repeatedly spoken of Peruvian guano in my former reports,
as to its composition and the particular substances on which
its fertility depends; this I need not here repeat, as it is well
known, and will only refer for information on this subject to
my former reports. The collection of more numerous facts
and the results of more experience, however, induce me to
make some remarks as to its mode of application and the
quantity which should be used.

This is the more necessary as some of the sources from
which our farmers seek information are dealers in the article,
and are therefore not disinterested, even if they were from
practical experience or scientific knowledge competent advi-
sors. This is not the case, and we therefore have ignorance
and selfishness combined to mislead the farming community
in the use of this article.

With regard to its application, it must be urgently recom-
mended; first to use an article which is either originally in
a state of fine comminution, or rendered so previous to its ap-
plication, by sieving and subsequent pounding of the selected
lumps, or by being ground in a proper mill; and, secondly,
to sow it in a manner which will secure its distribution
throughout those parts of the soil where the grain is sown;
to effect this purpose, it on grain crops should always be
sown with a drill. It is apparent that Peruvian guano, on
account of it containing nitrogen not alone in the most con-
centrated state, but also in a form (that of the volatile ammo-