The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-09-15
PERUVIAN GUANO.
Careless Methods Are Responsible
For Rapid Exhaustion.

| UtlSllS ID VI INC IlSuCSt 1u1pOA GdilCC'
Not only has guano a great money
value for purposes Of export, but it is
; absolutely essention to the agriculture
Of the country. The destruction of
the industry would be public ealam-
Iity.
By not few people it is supposed
that the accumulatlons Of guano in
Peru are something like coal deposits
in that they represent th" very gra-
dual accumulationS Of a vast amount
of time and that their deposition is
now at an end.
This is not the case, since guano
is being deposited today just as for
merly, but in much less qr nifty than
formerly, since the birds which pro-
duce it are far less numerous than
they used to be. On the other hand
the guano produced today is valuable
perhaps even more valuable than
that deposited years ago.
The deposits Of old guano are being
rapidly exhausted, and when these are
exhausted. there will remain only the
annual product, which under present
conditions is certain to grow less and
less. This is true because the birds
that produce it are wholly disregard
ed, for the contractors who collect the
guano do 50 without the slightest ref
erence to the birds ON which the sup
ply depends, driving them from their
nesting places and destroying the eggs
and young. The whole subject has
been carefully studied by Senor Lar
ra burey Correa, who recently submit
ted full report to- the Peruvian
government.
The two principal birds which de-
posit this valuable product are cor
r1orant and pelican. and these birds
spend the greater part Of their time
during the whole year on the nesting
ground. unless frightened away by
man. To secure the best results from
their presence they should be encour-
aged to remain on these grounds, and
inStcod Of being treated as wild ami
mails whose useful product men size
and carry away, they should be treat
ed as domestic animals, engaged in
useful labor and producing a crop
to the harvesting Of which the hi ighest
intelligence should be devoted.
The birds should not be driven away
from their nesting grounds. The pres
ent tendency to a decrease in num-
bers could be checked. Protection
will result in a great increase, and
such increase will mean the addition
to Peru's dollars worth of guano each
year. Everything should be done to
increase the number Of birds, for the
greater the number of the birds the
greater the amount of the guano pro-
duced. Action should be taken at
once, for the pelican, the more useful
Of these two birds, is gradually dis
appearing.
It is necessary to watch the con-
tractors who remove the guano from
the islands and see that they do it
with due regard to the safety Of the
birds and the future supply Of the
product. It would be we'll also to
close each of the various guano is
lands in rotation for term of years,
thus leaving the birds on the different
islands unmolested for periods Of
years as long as possible. A great
step in advance has been made in re-
cent years by establishing a closed
season for the islands, during which
they are not to be worked: but this
measure is, after all, only palliative.
It does not strike at the root Of the
evil.
The agriculture of Peru is depend
ent on the supply Of guano. The de-
mands Of the export trade are insa-
table. The time is coming when both
these demands cannot be satisfied. 1t
is high time that strong effort shall
be made to increase the supply, and
this can only be done by protecting
the breeding grounds Of the BIRDS
Forest and Stream.