The news and herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1876-1881, 1877-01-18
GuanO--What Is It ?

! ic " ofu UHHhD or futNcf NNt{/tO
belongs to the Quiciua or Indim
language of po;u. When the
Span.a' DIS diHG ovcrcd that country
about three and IL half centuries ago,
they found il extensively and intel
/ ligcntly cultivated. AS it never rains
ON tho coast OF Peru, irrigation has
alway" been necessary, ;,nl tho char
a"tcr anal miTnitrdo Of tho wo Ks
/ constructed by the Indians to watc,
thrl" land3 were matters of surprise
and comnont to the Spanish inval-
erS They were also amazed 1T the
SIZE nnd variety of the crops pro.
duccI, and found that the natives
used freely u peculiar natural fcrtili-
zer, which they called "huano." "
They learned that the transportation
OF tins substance from the islands
where it occurred in in,'ncnsc dcpos.
It's, gave employment to llr%c
number OF men and many small
vessels.
One Of the Spanish historian of
that day #avs "Ihc effect of this
substance they cell 'hu"no' is truly
wonderful to behold, II small u,mnti
ty making The land 10 yield II hun
drCN fold. This material WAS no
other than what is now known in
this country as Peruvian Guuno, and
It's use III Peru, at least, oates from
u very remote period, and to this
Gay no other manure is employed !;
and notwithstanding the land has
been under cultivation for centuries,
there Is still no diminution in The
y:cid, and the Production of sugar
cane, tobacco, cotton, corn. wine, Nc,
lis enormous, and may safely bear
comparison with that of tic most
fertile regions OF tho globe.
From these facts, it weulI seem
thai the idea prevalent among some
farmers, that gnano Injuries the land
Is certainly Il taIl"cy, at least SO far
Is Peru Iii concerned, for if it had
b id effects on the soil it would sure
~ be noticed everywhere in that
Country.
Bat returning to tho word
"guno" both Webster and Wor
ccster define it rs substance found
on certain islands, chiefly on tho
coast OF South America and Africa
Consisting of the cxcrcmcnts OF birds
and ch"Tfct"ri"c" Ly " h0rye per
ccnt"yc ct "r"tc oi' ",'In.o~i0 und
0ihcr u'"n,oniUcu salts.
Irc name "guano" has, however,
been applied, njustly to great
many natural and artificial compunds
sold rs fertilizers, bus devoid wholly
OF in part Of tho characteristics OF
genuine GuAMo. Phosphate Of lime,
mixtures OF bone black, fish or meat
scrap, etc, are frequently Offered Us
Eumo. lIoWs,rc 1t Hocver their pc
ch!iar advantages may be. it is II
nl"appropriation Of the name to Gail
them guanOs, and likely to mislead
tlc purchaser,
k is true that there exists d pccu-
liar phoaphato rock which once aros
Jur:/to, but having been exposed to
the rains Of centuries, is th0roughiy
bfc0chcd, ana c0ntttiu$ not q trace If
tie sof"Ile 0n'noni0cui suNa il once
possessed, and no longer retains tho
valuable fcrtiIi?iny properties of
Peruvian Euano. Such arc the
Somhrcro, B,,Ecrs island, and other
so-callcd gu"nos
Thcse aro the rcsidul from tho
cXclctn OF birds, yet The action of
water has SO altered their prop
critics, that they arc no longer qua
nos. Similarity of Origin is by no
means IL guarantee that two sub
stances ale one and tho same and as
before said, under the term guano
should be embraced only such natu-
raj fertilizers as retain all the urute
of ammonia and other alnmoniacal
salts which the Peruvian guano pos-
ScSSeS.
A still moro improper uso Of tho
namc "guano" is made by the manu-
facturcrs Of artificial fertilizers, who
designate their products by the
torn guano, qualified perhaps by
some adjective, but all Of which need
to be compostod to give anything
like tho same results rs even the raw
Peruvian guano. Honce, it is clear
biltt INC oiliy lfticlc Wnlcn lS SOlu IN
this country that should bear tho
nnmo OF guano, Is thut imported
.Jfo"e PERI, and q clear understand
ing Of this fact will savo our farm
crs much disappointment and OK
ponsc.-Cou't'y Gcaatlcmon.
Robert McEvoy, who, it will bc
remembered, murdered Col. James
Gregg, of Grantcvillc, somo
months ago, md who made his
escape from tho Aiken jail aftor
trial, conviction, and sentence to
doath, was recapturcd at Columbia
last week, He was on the northern
bound train of tho Charlotte, Co.
lumbia and Augusta Railroad, and
was caught by the Columbia chief of
police. 1fe pretended to be an
Other individual altogether, but tho
Aiken sheriff and his deputy rccog-
nized him at tho first glance. He
tried to pass himself off as "Tred.
Willoughby." He has been taken
back to Aiken jail, there to remain