Henry K. Burgwyn's first trial with guano. Its effect on grass sown with wheat.—The name and farm of this gentleman is so widely known as a successful renovator of miserably poor worn out fields, that we are delighted to have it in our power to have his testimony to our impregnable array of witnesses in favor of the most valuable substance for the improvement of such land, ever given by an overruling power for the benefit of those who ought to be exceedingly thankful for so good a gift. But hear what this writer has to say upon this interesting subject.
"Having about 150 acres of my wheat, this year sown upon last year's corn ground, and the land being rather light and not too rich, I feared lest I should fail with my grass sown on this wheat, because of the two successive cereal crops; I therefore bought guano, mixed it with its bulk of plaster, then added fine charcoal, the same, and to this mixture double the whole bulk of deposit of the Roanoke river, a rich alluvial earth, and sowed the whole broadcast in February and March, and harrowed it in, on the top of the wheat I sowed at the rate of 200 lbs. of guano to the acre; the value of which, no doubt, was doubled by the mixture with the absorbents of the ammonia, which is so exceedingly volatile even when left for a few hours, is easily dissipated by the March winds. On this land, I had sown in October previous, clover, timothy, Kentucky blue grass, and Italian ray grass. My harvest has now been over, three weeks, and I have never had a finer stand of all these, even on our rich bottoms. The ray grass matured its seed, rather sooner than the wheat was two-thirds as tall, and where very thickly sown, materially injured the product of the wheat, I have reaped an increased product from my wheat, amply sufficient to repay my outlay for the guano, plaster, &c., and have my grass as my profit on the investment; this in turn will shade and improve my land, fatten my stock, increase my crops, and cheer my eye with 'grassy slopes,' in place of 'galled hill sides;' this is profit sufficient for the most greedy if turned to a proper account;—be it remembered, too, this was a light and rather poor soil, but based on a good clay subsoil."
To this we beg leave to add from our own knowledge of this land, which is situated on the Roanoke river 6 or 7 miles below Halifax, that it was before being improved by Mr. Burgwyn, about as unpromising a tract as can be found upon all the "cottoned to death," poor old fields of that sadly abused State. In the condition it was when we first saw it, while undergoing the operation of putting a four horse plow through the broom straw and old field pines, notwithstanding our strong faith in the ability of such men as the Messrs. Burgwyns to redeem such land from its condition of utter and apparently hopeless barrenness, we must own, that if Mr. B. had made the assertion while we were riding over this very tract, that within two years he would reap a remunerating crop of wheat from the barren waste, and coat the ground with a carpet of luxuriant grass, we should have told him the day of miracles had passed away. But we had not then seen as much as we have since of the miraculous power of Peruvian guano.
We might continue to cite hundreds of similar cases but propose to pass over into Maryland, and after showing its application there has produced equally beneficial results, travel northward, calling here and there a witness as we proceed. Among others, we may call to the stand in Maryland, will be the editor of the American Farmer, whose testimony we consider almost invaluable, having devoted much attention to the subject, and to whom, and his able correspondents, we desire to award full credit, in this general manner, to save repetition, for much of the information we shall give the readers of several of the succeeding pages. The testimony of witnesses of such high standing, cannot be too highly estimated by those who are anxious to learn how to renovate their worn out farms, or make the rich ones richer.
EXPERIMENTS IN MARYLAND.
Effects of guano upon the crop to which it is applied.—Edward Stabler, in the American Farmer, thus speaks of an experiment he made in 1845, soon after the introduction of guano to any extent into this country.
"In a field of some 10 acres, one acre was selected near the middle, and extending through the field, so as to embrace any difference of soil, should there be any. On this acre 200 lbs. of Peruvian guano, at a cost of about $5 was sown with the wheat. Adjoining the guano on one side, was manure from the barn yard, at the rate of 25 cart loads to the acre; and on the opposite side (separated by an open drain the whole distance;) ground bones were applied on the balance of the field, at a cost of $6 to the acre; the field equally limed two years preceding. There was no material difference in the time or manner of seeding; except that the manure was lightly cross-ploughed in, and the guano and bones harrowed in with the wheat.
"The yield on the guanoed acre was 35 bushels; the adjoining acre with bone, as near as could be estimated by dozens, and compared with the guano, was about 27 bushels; and the manured, about 24 bushels. The season was unusually dry; and the manured portion suffered more from this cause than either of the others; the land being considerably more elevated, and a south exposure."
In our opinion Mr. S. is in error in regard to the manured land suffering most from drouth. In our experience we have always found the best effects from Guano, in wet seasons, or upon irrigated land. He says also, "This is one of the most active of all manures; and although he thinks the effect evanescent, it might aid materially in renovating worn out lands." Since that time a great many other Maryland farmers have, undoubtedly come to the same conclusion, for notwithstanding the price, which he thinks too high to justify its extensive use, has not been materially reduced, there is more guano sold in Baltimore than any, or perhaps all the ports in the United States; and the benefits derived from its use upon the worn out lands of Maryland, have been of the most satisfactory character.