Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1854-03-02
ANNUAL REPORT OF DR.. HIGG GINS


marks: "rhe nature of the counties here
iolore visited by Dr.. Higgins has given his
f'rmer reports almos. an exclusively ogri-
cultural character. His operations extend
ing into section of the State this year "a
nous for its mineral resources, necessarily
demand an extended notice of those resour-
ces, and, 10 some extent, changes the charac-
ter Of his report.
CATER devo'ing some SO pages TO the ply
steal properties of the soil generally, and ST.
so its nourishng properties, " it'll some few
other matters, The repor, takes up The 'di-
rec.ly nourishing ingredients Of The a,mos-
phere,' embracing an exemplifcalion of ma
nnres t" he used for The application of am
monnia 10 soils, which are Peruvian and Lo-
bus guanos and the nitrate Of soda.
81, seems that the best action Of The nitrate
Of Soda. in other words, Chill salipetre. Gu
bic ni,re,) only takes place when mixed
with double the quantity of common salt,
which never should be absent in soils. This
nitric ecid in Chill saltpe,re acts on account
"f its nitrogen, which, as it seems, is also
converted into ammonia before il enters the
vegetable system. As to the cost of nitrate
Of soda, it should a, least not be more than
that of Peruvian guano for Peruvian guano
contains The same amount Of nitrogen that
on equal weight Of nitrate of soda does, be-
sides valuable phosphates which are not in
the latter. And secondly, they are both
found in abundance in nature, almost On the
same place, end under The same conditions
notwithstanding this, the price of cubic nj
ire is cents per TO-, and that Of Peruvian
gusno bu, 9 1-2 cts. The very first Thing,
therefore, says the State Chemist, should be
to sbolish the duty on this article and all
manures.
'The former analysis Of the two descrip-
tons Of guano above mentioned is given,
showing ihs. shor, ton of Lobos is only
worth $25 80 as compared with Peruvian,
end then, in conclusion of this section, is |
given few shor. directions in relation to
the use Of Peruvian guano, and begs the
most careful attention 10 them. However
valuable this manure may be, it should al |
ways be accompanied with other substan- !
ces, which subances must depend on their
absence or deficiency in The soil. The fol-
lowing are the directions:
''To soil defcien. III phosphoric acid,
bone-dus,, Mexican guano, or mineral phos-
phase Of lime should be applied with the
Peruvian guano. If chlorine be deficient,
then common salt should be used with the
g"ano. IL potash be wanting, then ashes
should be applied some time before The GU
ano, or pear-ssh should be used as q top
dressing in the spring. Two hundred
pounds Of Peruvian gnano can only produce
as much OF crop as its least mineral con-
siituent can supply; if that mineral consli-
tuent be absent in the soil, or even presen,
in an insolubae form, the full effect of the
guano will not be experienced. To prove
this, let US consider the composition o.
wheat. By the table on page SO we per-
eeive that whea, crop of lbiry-two BUSH
els, weighing sixty-,wo pounds to the BUSH
ell, will remove from the soil in its grain,
s,Iaw end chaf, more than twenty-nine
pounds of potash, (oxide of potassium. j.
A crop Of fifteen bushels will remove abou.
fourteen pounds and half of oxide of po-
sassium. Two hundred pounds of Peruvian
guano, therefore, on poor soil, may pro-
duce fifteen bushels Of wheat PEI acre but
IN this production the land is deprived Of
more than fourteen pounds Of the oxide of
potassium. The applied guano only sup
plies about seven pounds, the soil, therefore,
furnishes the remaining seven Necessary for
the crop Of fifteen bushels.
'"Now it is plain that TO soil deficient in
potash, whether from its absence or its in
soluble form, the application Of two hun
dred pounds OF Peruvian gusno can only pro-
duce as much wheat as its potash can supply,
or about seven bushels The continual use Of
Peruvian guano, then, on this coil, will,
eventually, SO far diminish the quantity of
potash, tina, 200 pounds will only produce
eigh, bushels of wheat, and only three
bushels potatoes, inasmuch good crop
of potatoes removes one hundred and four
teen pounds Of potash per acre. This mus.
make it plain, then, that the use of Peruv-
an guano, without any other substance, will
reduce lands defcien. in potash, to point
where Peruvian guano cannot be prof'ably
1t moreover renders it plain
that other substances must be used " i,h Pc
ruyian guano TO obtain The full effects of it.
A few pounds of potash or Of soda, or Of
some substance containing phosphoric acid,
will greatly enhance lis action, and therefore
o much less quantity can be used than Is
now the custom, whilst, al the same time,
the greater profits from j! use will induce q
mach more extended application oft.
"'As this manure, therefore, extracts, by
the increased crops which itproduces, more
from The soil than it applies, it is evident
,ha, sooner or later i, will impoverish land
ifused alone. But there is another consid-
Grafton which must be looked into by far
mers, and that is the following: The
quantity Of good Peruvian guano on the is
land is variously estimated al from eight to
fifteen millions Of ions in shor, time this
quantity will be exhausted, end, if farmers