The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-05-24
How 10 Use Gaanaao.

1unno comes in bags, and usually
contain may Jumps which require to
be crushed into powder, before It's ap.
piled to the soil. The Jumps are gen.
orally separated from the mass by
riddle or sieve, as Jumps and pebles
are separated from sand in making
mortar; or as grain is sometimes sifted
by hand. The anImonical dust that
flies off in this operation is pretty Sc
we're on the lungs and eyes Of the oper-
ator, and is avoided by moistening the
gunno ten or twelve hours or day
before the sitting begins. The damp
ness should be barely sufficient to
keep the dust from being diffused
through the atmosphere. The Jumps
riddled or sifted out, may be moisten-
ed little more, and crushed as in ma
king mortar, with the back Of u hoe, or
shovel, on a plank floor, or smoothe
hard ground.
For corn, it will probably pay bet
ter to put the manure in the hill or
drill, than scatter it broadcast on the
ground. After field is ready for
planting, let hands take the guano in
buckets on their arms and the two fore
or first fingers and thumb, take out q
good pinch of the guano and drop it
where the corn is to be dropped,
Speeding it and covering it with lit
tie earth, by using the foot for that
purpose. The track Of the manure
dropper tells the corn-dropper where
the seed should be placed; while the
earth between the guano and the corn
prevents the causticity Of the former
from doing injury to the latter, which
when it begins to grow, is tender and
easy killed.
The above hints apply to the use of
guano in cotton culture, not less than
the planting ofcorn. But as cotton
seed are usually scattered literally in
drills or rows, one way only, we should
not hesitate to scatter in the same fur.
row, or marking, guano equal to 1000
or 5000 lbs. per acre, aud cover both
seed and manure at one operation. A
few seed might be killed or damaged
by the manure, but enough and more
than enough, would grow. No injury
has ever resulted from sowing guano
and wheat together, and covering both
with a harrow or plow.
1t is only soluble salts in guano that
can injure any seed; and before the
germ starts out, the salts, being at
once dissolved by the damp earth, be-
Games difluscd and diluted, that no in
jury cen be done to the young plant.
lfthe soil is dry, where the guano is
placed, the result might be different
In dry summers, this hot, caustic fer
tilizer does more hurt than good. In
the Patent Office reports for 1851, the
reader will find great deal of informa-
ton on this and many other impor-
tant subjects, showing the best practi-
ces in farm economy. On page 252,
MIR. Zook Of Pennsylvania gives us All
account ofguano, and 1000 ofgypsum
on poor field, badly worn by 10 years
cropping, containing Is acres. The
!. anure was sown Immediately after
the corn was planted, and the ground
narrowed, when the corn was two or
three inches high. The yield was fifty
bushels per acre. This crop was made
i'll IS4S. In 1859. the field was sown
i'll oats, and turned out over 40 bushels
per acre. Mr.. u. estimates the gain
from the guano and plaster ut 800 per
cent; cost per acre, 81 40. Mr.. Mum
ma, of the same State speaks highly of
plaster used OIL corn, and conlmcnds
the free use Of lime. Of the latter he
says: $50 powerful is the effect on
poor land, if properly applied, that on
many farms in the country, where it
has been used, the value Of the land
has been increased 200 per cent, with
less than one hundred bushels per
acre." Mr.. Houston of Delaware
applied 800 lbs. Of guano per acre to
70 acres Of wheat in 1851. He pre-
tcrs ploughing it in six inches deep
He says that lime pays better than
guano, taking ten years together. But
he gets lime cheap, and guano is ex-
pensivc everywhere.
ih'' 'h'So "Pcllcice HIuuCeS MIR I'D
say, that 100 lbs. of this manure will
give ten bushels of corn on poor land.
Mr. Wright, q very successful farmer
of Dclcwarc, says that guano is too
high for profit to the cultivator. Mr..
Walsh says: "Guano is also used on
our corn crop, but not to the same en-
tent rs to wheat. 1t is applied, gencr.
ally to the land previous to its being
flushed. Sometimes after planting the
land, it is sown upon the furrow, and
then narrowed in, either way. Itadds
materially to the gain of the crop; in
creasing it should think, when 5000
lbs. are used, at least two.told."
Mr.. Charles Yancey, Of Buckingham
County, Va, says: Sin the fall of
1850, purchased ten tons of guano,
plowcd shaller, as before stated (three
inches deep) using 200 lbs. per acre,
and seeded wheat, leaving occasional
ridges, not guanoed. Verify, the eye
said the guanoed wheat would yield
double"
We think favorably ofthe following