The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1904-10-05
USING PERUVIAN GUANO.
Farmers Who Have Used 1t Find
il Valuable and Economical.

5uano ABOARD, the BrlUlSn SGeaDoHip
condor, Capt Anderson, arrived II
port recently AID is now discharglng
ler cargo at the South Carolina Term
NAL wharf at the foot Of Columbus
street. AS fast as the fertilizer is taken
from the hold it is packed in labelled
sacks and made ready for shipment 10
the interior and to the agricu:turlsts
along the coast. The cargo is conslgn
ed to order, though it belongs to Z.
Mortimer s. Co.
This shipment is the first OF a series
which will be received during the WIN
ter. a. vessel bearing seventy-tve hun
dred tons being due here next month.
Other shipments will be made to G..
Mortimore s Co as is deemed neces-
sary to supply the demand, which has
been steadily growing as the farmers
become better acquainted With its vlr-
tu' as a fertilizer. That public atten.
ton is being rapidly awakened to the
fact that genuine Peruvian guaro can
be bought in that city is made evident
by the fact that farmers in the inter
ior are asking for information regard
ing the fertilizer and Friday a party
Of representative farmers from Or
angeburg County were in the city TO
personally examine the cargo and sat
i>fg themselves as to its efficacy. the
party consisted of Messrs G. L. Saliey,
clerk OF Court; T. " Z igler, n. \.
Hayden, T. E. McCants, J 6. Smith
C. a. Stroman, A. D. Fair, f. L.
Gates and L. G. Way. a party fr. m
Chesterfield County and a party from
Marion County have signihed their In
tention Of coming to the city at an
early date to look at the guano. The
gentlemen from Orangeburg Friday
said that they were satisfied that 1t
was the genuine article.
Several days will be nects ary to
unload the cargo OF the Condor as the
men below are unable to labor for any
great length Of time on account OF the
penetrating odor Of am monia. In spite
of the fact that wind sails are provid.
ed, the men were unable tc stay in the
ho,d Friday and only one hatchway
vas utilized. The hot humid weather
renders the orGor Of ammonia pecu
l!arly suffe eating.
1.-The Condor came direct from
Lobts de TERRA, an island about fifty
miles off the coast OF Peru. These
guano deposits are found on the rocky
islands and il gullies and ravlnes
along the coast. They must have
b:en for very long tine the solitude
Of a vest number Of sea birds, such
as penguins, pe!icans, gannets, aba
.rc> S, shags, petrels, and gulls, as well
as of seals and SEA lions. These is.
lands, from which the guano is taken.
ere their living and breeding places as
we'll as tteir cemeteries, where the
birds lived and died, and the accnmu.
at on consists, not only OF the slowly
putrefying excTements OF innunerable
SEA fowl, but Of their carcaSses a:
well. Many Of these mummihed car
cases have been found in the cargo Of
the Condor and dozens OF petnfe
eggs have been unearthed by the pick
Of the laborers in the hold. That
the guano consist, in a measure, o.
these decomposed carcasses would
appear from the average composition
of good guano as com pared with the
composition Of more recent accumula
tion Of pure excreta.
AT fist thought o1e might ima
CINE that heavy rains would wash thf
accumulation into the sea, but "her
it is remembered that rain never fal !:
on certain sections Of the coast o.
Peru it is readily seen that ths
exereta remains undiSturbed By
nature. In speaking of this phase O.
the subject, famous professor ha'
observed: 1T is the dryn1ss OF tht
climate which has permitted tht
guaro to accumulate on these coasts
When we reach a region which from
local causes, the dewS are heavier
and the rains more frequent, thu
accumulation ceases; cold water dis
solves at least three-ffths Of tht
quano ia the state in which it reache:
Us. A single day Of English rail-
would dissolve and carry into the sea
a considerable potion Of one Of tht
largest accommodations; single year o
English weather would cause many o.
them to entirely disappear"
THE rapidity with which the ex
creta OF the sea fowls accumulates is
almost inconceiVable to the minds 0.
dwellers in this section of the country
and one single example may serve tt
give one SINE adequate conception ol
The rapid accumulation. A small
barren rocky isle, Smiths Island, OF
the coast Of Peru, was laid bare by
ships twenty-five years ago, and ii
was thought that it would be useless
10 visit the isle again until fifty OF
hundred years elapsed. Recently
a vessel anchored off Smith Island
and it was found that more than 25..
900 tors had accumulated in the
tWenty-fve years.
The following description Of the
formation CT guaro, written by one
who has passed considerable time at
the deposits, may not be uninterest-
ing:
The deposits Of Lobos de Afuera
having remained unworked for some
years and the birds having become re-
assured, they returned to their old
haunts. l paid my first visit to these
islands during March Of 1879. The
pelicans were then assembled together
at deposit already partially formed,
and on ;he surface Of it they were
patching and rearing their young.
The nests, consisting of a circle OF sea
weed and ODDS and ends, appeared to
have been constructed more with the
view OF indicating the limit of each
property, or Of preventing the eggs
from rolling down into the sea, than
of forming comfortable receptacles for
newlyhatched chicks. They we're