The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1884-02-14

R" th" PNuyrug -, HHo 'he conc prc,
'o't ie'is us na' lncso deposits, AMI their
agricultural value were we'll known to The
Pefayiansi and now that Certain Jepos;,s
were allotted TO the as6 of certain ayricdl-
tural districts. such as doubtless from their
ohemica! composition suited aud were ad-
opted to the peculiar soils Of these sections
OF country. The Peruyians had made con-
siderable strides /, the science of ag rieul>
ture, and like their ancestors, the Japsnes
from whom they were no doubt decended,
were at the time Of Pigarro's conquest far
ahead of our average South Carolina scien
THO farmer of the present day, using both
Commercial Fertilizers and irrigating his
lands. The first deposit Of this Guauo
which attracted European and American
attention, and which soon became we'll
known and an article of commerce in both
countries, was the pure Peruvian or q Guano
from the Chincha Isles. AS this was the
first, so IL was by far the most valu able of
all the Guano deposits. 1t averaged ii to
l8 per cent Ammonia, and paying per-
centage Of Phosphoric Acid and that too in
a soluble form. The Chncba Isles deposits
were so extremely valuable that they be
came popular, and had n world wide repu-
tation. These Isles being the property of
the Government their products were a
government monopoly.-and the Commercial
Agents Of New York and elsewhere had the
advantage of comparative monopoly in
our own country, which they were not at
all backward in using, and the "Chincha"
brought ut one time over 500 per ton in
our market. And we will show later in
present time are worth tho price they are
bringing, the pure Chincha was worth SlOU
per ton and over
Various theories have been advanced MS
to the origin of these deposits The most
commonly adopted one" being that they
were composed of the cxcremets of birds,
and that the Chincha was the richest in
Ammoniacle matter, because rain never fell
on these Isles 10 dissipate the Ammonia
This theory (of bird cxcremcnts aud no
rain) would be now satisfactory if the
anchors Of vessels riding off these Isles did
not diag ur Guano rs rich rs that taken
from The land, and in some cases richer bv
far. Hence this theory '>Ioids too much
water"
Phosphoric Acid-thc base Of Bone Phos
phnte evidently exists in nature and in
spite Of what our Sunday School teachers
toll us of the making Of Adam out of u
little clay, the theory ls all bosl unless in.
drcd that clay contained IL sufficient amount
of Bone Phosphate where With to make for
our good grand sire sufficiently hard bones
to hold his tl2shy carcass weight up with,
and even when Adam was finished earth
must have c0nnincd n vast supply::ot Bone
Pho.phntc where to make his sncccss>
ors--nnd the Bone Of the beasts Of the field
and fowls Of the air. As il was necessary
to make ''man and beast" to have, rs Il b Use
raw material, 80 to speak, 50 it WAS ne
necessary to have another supply OF raw
material in shape Of Ammvuia in order to
ensure flesh growth, and this supply exist
Ell in mineral shape (SuIphatc Ammonia )nnd
! in the atmosphere notably descending in
rain water and natures store and stock was
doubtless both increased and stored in more
available form and place by plants storing
Ammoniacal matter, and upcn their dccom
| position dcpositing it in the soil. IIenc,
we conclude that it matters little whethe,
the one theory or the other be adopted
The Peruvian deposits were there.
The Chincha Isles were exhausted abuu
| 10 to II years ngo-and for several year,
after supply Of Guaunappee Guano wa.
kept on the market rs "pure Peruvian.
Rarely n lot Of this was found that ran a.
high MS l3t II IA per cent Of Ammonia, bu
its average was nos over 6 to 8 per cent
and even that ANN )nia was rot in as avail
able form as the Chncha, and its supply o
Phosphoric Acid was poor, and yet sucl
had been the reputation Of Chincha tina
this Guaunappee Guano commanded $50 t,
$50 per ton, nearly double lis real value
selling and being sold 10 those who hac
once used the Chincha and knew its avail.
| aDlc value.
SO much for Bird Gunno-- Guano or de
posits from the Peruvian Coast. Call it b,
what name you will. They had pracIicall,
disappeared from our markets. Aud W
are now purchasing what we call Guano-
and under this word we cover every Com
mercial mixture of bone dust, rock, sc
NC, on the market, aud all is covered by
correct mercantile term, "Commercial Fer
tilzcrs," meaning my compound shippc
and sold to improve plant-growth or pur
porting TO do so. And discussing the teri
Guano we will hereafter in what we hay
to say, use the word Commercial Fertilizers
COUNTY SUBSCRIBER AND FARaEn.
MIR. EDIToR: Since improving
roads as we'll as working them ha