It is, indeed, difficult to over-estimate the important influence which the introduction of this most valuable fertiliser has exercised on British as well as, to a large extent, on European husbandry. Before its introduction the farmer was almost completely dependent on his farmyard manure. He was tied down to a great extent, by the exigencies of the then prevailing agricultural customs, to certain rotations of crops. He could do little in the way of enriching barren soils or of ensuring a heavy yield of crop. By the use of this very potent fertiliser, he quickly discovered that the most wonderful results ensued—results which must have seemed to him at first little short of miraculous. He found that by the application of a few hundredweights per acre, poor soils could be made to yield large returns, and that barren patches in a field could be brought up to the average of the surrounding portions by sprinkling merely a few handfuls of it; that by its means a good start could be ensured to every crop, and one slow of coming away could be hastened on. In short, in this wonderful brown powder, with such a characteristic odour, the astonished farmer discovered a manure which, for the speed of its action, and for the increase of crop it gave, completely threw into the shade both farmyard manure and bones. What wonder, then, that its fame as a manure should have become so quickly known and its use so extensive! It thus gave a most powerful impetus to intelligent farming by bringing home to the minds of those who used it the important position nitrogen and phosphates occupied as constituents of the soil, and the influence they exercised on plant-growth. It furnished, in fact, on an enormously large scale, a practical demonstration of the principles of manuring. The educational value which the use of guano thus exercised may be said to have been very great. It also led the way to the use of the various artificial manures so much used during the last fifty years. Impressed by the value of guano, farmers were favourably disposed towards the use of other fertilisers; and, largely owing to its widespread popularity, the new practice speedily gained ground.
Influence not wholly for Good.
But its influence, it must be admitted, was not wholly for good. In its very popularity lay the danger of its abuse. Had its value and the method of its action been more widely understood, and had the principles upon which the practice of artificial manuring depends been better realised, agriculturists would have been spared much of the needless pecuniary losses they sustained by being imposed upon by unscrupulous manure-dealers. Among the farming community the word guano soon became a name to conjure with, and under this title many spurious and worthless manures were attempted to be palmed off on the unwary farmer. Even the genuine article, there can be little doubt, was at one time largely adulterated; and as the farmer was almost invariably content to purchase the article not on any guaranteed chemical analysis, but simply on the ground of its appearance, colour, and more especially smell, every facility was given for the successful perpetration of such fraudulent imposition. Guano, it was very soon found, varied in its composition, but this variation in quality the farmer did not recognise. In the early days of its use all guano was in his eyes of the same value. Too often, as we have just pointed out, provided it had a good colour and a strong odour, it was all right. Under such conditions, it can scarcely be wondered at that its introduction should have proved not an unmixed blessing to agriculture.
Its Value as a Manure.
Guano derives its value as a manure from the nitrogen, phosphates, and the small amount of potash it contains. This at any rate is true of the great bulk of guano which has been used in the past. There are, as we shall immediately see, certain kinds of guano, known as phosphatic guanos, which only contain phosphates. The amount of such purely phosphatic guano directly used as a manure in this country is, however, inconsiderable, and guano may truly be described as owing its value chiefly to its nitrogen. Not a little of its value and popularity as a manure may be said to be due to the fact that it contains all of the three important manurial constituents, and that in this respect it may be regarded in a sense as a general manure, thus resembling most nearly, of all artificial manures, farmyard manure. Although its sources are now, to a very large extent, exhausted, and its total annual imports into this country are at present considerably less than what they were thirty or forty years ago,[184] it may be well, on account of its historical importance, to give a somewhat detailed account of its origin, occurrence, and value as a manure.
Origin and Occurrence.
Guano (which means dung)—or huano, as it is spelt in the Spanish language—was first used in Peru. It seems to have been used there long before that country was discovered by the Spaniards—probably as early as the twelfth century. Regarding its origin there can be little doubt. It is almost entirely derived from the excrements of sea-birds, such as pelicans, penguins, and gulls, as well as from the remains of the birds themselves, and of seals, walruses, and various other animals.[185] Under the influence of a tropical sun, and in a region in which rain scarcely ever falls, these excrements are soon dried, and remain little changed in their composition through centuries. Many of the Peruvian deposits must be extremely old, as they are covered up with sand and other débris, and are of considerable depth. Especially is this the case with deposits occurring on the mainland, such as those at Pabellon de Pica, where the layer of sand or conglomerate covering up the deposit varies in depth from a few feet to over a hundred. The effect of this superficial covering has been to protect the guano, to a certain extent, from loss of nitrogen.
Although guano of the best class has been derived from the neighbourhood of Peru, deposits have also been found in many other parts of the world—viz., in North America, West Indies, Australia, Asia, Africa, and among the islands of the Pacific.[186]
Variation in the Composition of different Guanos.
The guano found in these different deposits varies very considerably in composition. This is due to the difference in the nature of the prevailing climate of the places where these deposits occur. Where the climate is dry and warm, as is the case in Chili and Peru, the excrements dry quickly and remain very little changed, as one very important condition of fermentation—viz., moisture—is absent.[187] In a damp climate, on the other hand, speedy fermentation ensues, resulting in the loss of nearly all the organic matter, including nitrogen, in such volatile forms as carbonate of ammonia, carbonic acid gas, water, &c. The soluble alkalies, the most important of which is potash, as well as the soluble phosphates, are also, under such conditions, lost to the guano by being washed out by the rain. We have thus a wide difference in the quality of the different deposits, depending on the extent to which decomposition has taken place. Guano thus ranges from the rich nitrogenous Peruvian kind, which has undergone little or no change from the time of its deposit, to the purely phosphatic kind (such as those of Malden and Baker islands), in which everything of manurial value has been lost except the insoluble phosphate of lime. Even among the nitrogenous guanos we find a considerable difference in quality, some deposits being partially impoverished by the action of the atmospheric moisture, dew, spray or sea-water, but still containing a considerable proportion of their nitrogen. Other deposits, again, are largely admixed with sand, which has been blown in upon them to such an extent as to make them unsaleable. We can divide guano, therefore, into two great classes—viz., nitrogenous and phosphatic.