The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-12-08

CT, n this Will sell for * cents a
eaiion- The islands have also seals
o WIG dogs as we'll as Wild dom
ne9s ana cate. all of which are the
descendants OF those rough hv a
colony from Ecuador. which once at
ee.nepted 70 settle the stand. but
failed.
There are other Islands lying of the
west coast CT South America that
nave yielded more money than any
olhef spots upon earth OF q similar
size. | refer to the guano islands
winch have produced mere than one
billion dollars worth Of fertilizer. and
Whlch. II the present movement for
theT renovation succeeds. Will pro-
uuce hundreds Of millions OF dollars
more. This movement is backed bv
.he government. and is
based upon scientific Investigations.
| Will describe it further on in this
letter.
The guano islands begin al The
northern part of Peru. and they run
mere and there through the sea of
the west coast into Chile. They are
50 situated that they have no rain. and
they are absolutely barren except for
the vast locks Of birds which Use
them for their breeding places.
saw many Of these islands OF my
way southwark through the Pacific
AT first hey SCENE TO be rocks of
white chalk. The white, however, was
made by the droppings Of birds.
which come there by the tens of mil
lions every year TO nest and raise
their young.
The great value comes from the
droppings or manure Of these birds.
At the time they were discovered the
deposits were so large that the Peru
VANS Dora tua ere,arot jnnS IN doyal-
opIng them. They shipped the suano
to the United States and Europe. and
a fleet OF vessels was engaged in car
rying it. The receipts paid a large
part Of the expenses Of the govern
ment, and they kept the country rich.
Then Peru had its war with Chile
and was conquered. The result was
an enormous foreign e III the set
Element of which the best of the
a iSland were given over to the
foreign hondholders, and came under
what is known as h Peruvian cor
poration, which corporation is still
shipping from them thirty or more
thousand tons every year.
J, The suano deposits are now almosl
exhausted. The most Of the product
, had been consumed before the wal
> with Chile. and a continual export has
: gone on since then The output now
= amounts to only a few thousand tons
I Ia year, but through the plans nov
, making by the Peruvian government
s the stands may be renovated, and Z
q continual supply received from then
e for ali time to come. These plans arr
t based upon the work of DR.. H 0
I Forbes, a celebrated ornithologist, wh'
has been sent by the President o
Peru to report upon h islands ant
T advise the government as to their fu
4 ture. DR.. Forbes has visited the who'll
coast in a motor boat. and has inves
+. tigated all the islands and roostinI
q rocks, studying the birds and hei
possibilities. He has caught some O
/ the birds and kept them with q viey
q to see how much guano each vii
r produce. He finds that the amour
Of fish consumed by them is enormous
A single pelican will eat from eigh
to ten pounds a day and it deposits a
enormous amount OF guano IN tn
Is course Of q nesting A sea gu,
Q will drop from four to six ounces pc
q day or something like twenty-si
pounds during the time 1t is breed
4 ing. other birds produce more an
the total amount is cry great.
n DR.. Forbes has divided the guam
archipelago into and it is HI
- idea tina each zone will be worke
h only once in four years, during whic
"a times the other will be account
: ldlln& SudnO. III lIuS way Tic Suppi
will be continuous and the stands ma
% again be enormously profitable.
10 During my trip off the guano island
ID we had millions of pelicans flyin
ID over our steamer. There were ais
Re sea gulls, wild ducks and divers
l. many kinds. In places the sea WI
ct covered with birds. an0 a great foe
Ut Of cormorants or pelicans would dro
8. out Of the sky on to the water, cover
as ing an acre or so at one time. tt
Id birds feed in the sea. The pelican
lg have pouches or bags Of yellow SKI
lie under their necks, and they scoop tt
h, fish into these. They often gors
w themselves to such an extent that tbs
cannot rise from the water. but r.
main there until they ave digeste
ry sufficient of their catch to tighten Il
weight. They always hunt in flock
os and when they settle On some pla'
of where the fish are abundant, tn
,r. form islands on the sea a mile or
ed in diameter. DR.. Forbes says tn
they sit so close together that tho