On Strawberries, nothing has ever been applied equal to guano, provided the plants are plentifully watered. The best mode of application is in solution. One pound is enough for ten gallons of water.
On Cauliflowers.—Two experiments, one with guano, the other with a solution. The first are fine strong plants, particularly one to which I gave a larger share than the other; it is heading finely. But those with the solution are much larger and finer. I have been accustomed to observe the cultivation of this vegetable, and never saw such a luxuriant growth. They are now, (Sept. 15th) beginning to show flower; and, if the season is favorable, I expect the heads will be very fine. The plants are at least four times larger than those on the same piece without guano, or any manure at all, planted on the same day, from the same seed bed.
On Rhubarb or Pie Plant, guano has the most decided beneficial effect, increasing the size, flavor and tenderness of the stalk; besides the very great advantage of bringing it forward some two or three weeks earlier in the spring. Fork it in all over the bed, just as early as the frost will permit, at the rate of 600 lbs. to the acre.
On Asparagus, the same treatment will more than double the quantity of this excellent, healthy vegetable. In the fall, give a dressing of salt equal to 15 or 20 bushels to the acre. With the guano, nothing else need be applied, if it is thoroughly mixed with the soil.
For Vegetables, Plants, Trees, and Shrubbery generally, where fruit is an object, apply the guano as above, in powder. Where flowers of rare size and beauty are desired, apply it in solution, or by frequently stirring in small dressings just before a shower. Another important observation on this subject is, that guano, or its solution, should never be applied except at that period of the season when the growth of wood is proper and natural.
In forcing houses, nothing can be equal to guano. One thing, it produces no weeds, or insects; this is enough to insure its favor wherever it may be tried.
On roses, the beneficial effect is already well known. If tea roses are cut down when the bloom is over, repotted in fresh earth, and well watered twice or thrice a week, with guano water, they will immediately throw out luxuriant shoots, and be covered with their fragrant blossoms. The cactus tribe will bear a larger quantity and stronger solution of guano, without injury, than most other plants.
"During the progress of my experiments," says Mr. T., "I have been delighted with the unfailing and extraordinary luxuriance of growth and produce on a miserable spot of land, induced by the use of this manure, and struck with the numerous instances which have come to my knowledge of erroneous applications of it. On a stiff clay, guano would be of little value, except on the surface, or an inch or two deep, unless it were considerably lightened by the addition of sand, or well broken up by exposure, in ridges, to frost, as every clay soil should be. A light, porous, sandy soil would require 300 lbs. Peruvian, or 400 lbs. best Ichaboe; and for this soil I think the Peruvian best adapted, as it retains the ammonia longer, and, being less soluble in water than the Ichaboe, its qualities are not so soon washed out."
In a soil already much enriched with manure, and at the same time abounding in phosphate of lime, I have found the guano to produce less visible effects than on a poor, sandy soil.
Most excellent effects have been produced by steeping seeds in guano water of moderate strength for eight to twelve hours, dependent on the kind of seeds, and then planting with one to three inches soil between the seed and the guano. The steep encourages the growth of the young plant, whose roots, in a more advanced stage, find the guano, which continues the stimulus.