To growing Corn, if it is desirable to apply it, turn a furrow away from the row on each side and scatter in the bottom at the rate of 300 lbs. per acre, and turn back the earth immediately.
Green Corn—roasting ears—are improved in taste by guano beyond anything ever conceived of by the lovers of this luscious food.
Quantity per acre.—Thomas S. Pleasants of Petersburg, Va., a well-known writer upon agriculture, and who has had much practical experience ever since the first introduction of guano into this country, says:—"Corn is a gross feeder and will take up a greater quantity of guano than perhaps any other crop. I have known as much as 600 lbs. applied to the acre and the product was in proportion. Each hundred pounds will give an average product of ten bushels as various experiments have proved From the above mentioned application of 600 lbs. a product of 73 bushels was obtained, which left 13 bushels as the product of the soil alone. For corn, guano may be spread broadcast on the land and ploughed in as deeply as it is desirable to break the soil; or it may be strewed along deep furrows to be afterwards ridged over and the cultivation to be in only one direction. The best result I ever obtained was from this latter mode, when from land not capable of producing five bushels, I harvested a crop that could not have been less than 35 bushels to the acre.
"The furrows were opened deep and wide by passing the plow both ways and the guano strewed along these at the rate 1 lb. per every ten yards. They were then covered over and the land thereby thrown into beds. But in whatever way it is used, the roots of the corn will be sure to find it all, and between these two modes, I think there is little or no choice. I would certainly advise against putting it in the hill, though I have sometimes seen good results. It is difficult, however, in such a case, to prevent the guano and seed from coming into close contact; and, unless there are two or three inches of earth interposed between them the seed will be certainly destroyed."
For wheat, the guano should be spread broadcast at the time of seeding the wheat, at the rate of 200 lbs. to 250 lbs. per acre and ploughed in. If the land has been previously fallowed, it will be sufficient to plow it in with a one horse plow; if broken up for the first time, there will be no objection to using a larger plough. The best depth for getting it in, however, is, I think, from four to six inches. It always acts more powerfully on clean land; indeed if there is much crude vegetable matter in the soil, there is frequently little or no advantage derived from its application. Experience, therefore goes to show that the most economical application is to corn land; that is, to land that has just produced a crop of corn, no matter how poor it may be. If it is intended to be put on land that has been lying in grass, it would be advisable to fallow it as early in the season as practicable, and afterwards to get it in with a small plow as already suggested.
The same direction will apply to oats and also to rye. But for oats, 125 to 150 lbs of guano will be as much as can be used to advantage.
A. B. Allen of New York, one of the earliest, and most strenuous advocates of using guano, who, long before he ever thought of being engaged in its sale, used to distribute small parcels among farmers and gardeners to enable them to try experiments and learn its value, in a letter to the Southern Cultivator, says:—"Never put guano in the hill with corn, no matter if covered two or three inches deep; for the roots will be certain to find it, and so sure as they touch the guano, so caustic is it, that it will certainly kill the corn; the same with peas, beans, melon vines, in fact most vegetable crops. Wheat and other small grains have so many roots, and tiller so well, there is no danger of guano killing them, when sown directly with the seed. Still, as before remarked, it is better to plough it in before sowing the seed.
"After corn is up, you may apply a table spoonful, at the first time hoeing; dig it an inch or two deep six inches from each stalk. A table spoonful to the hill will take 250 to 350 lbs., per acre, according to the distance the hills are apart. If the soil be rather poor, a second dose at the time the corn first shows its silk, will add considerably to the yield in grain, if followed by rains, but little or nothing to the growth of stalk. Guano increases the size of grain more than stalks; hence one must be content to wait till the grain is fully matured before giving an opinion of the virtues of guano.
"Before applying the guano, it is better to mix it well with an equal quantity of plaster of Paris or charcoal dust. Either of these substances help to retain the ammonia and prevent its evaporation.
"The genuine unadulterated Peruvian guano, is so much superior to any other kind, it is in reality the cheapest, though the price is considerable higher than that of the other qualities."