Peruvian. Chilian Chilian Patagonian
Fine. Inferior.
Water, 13.73 6.06 15.09 24.86
Organic matter and} 53.16 54.51 12.88 18.86
ammonical salts, }
Phosphates 23.48 11.96 16.44 41.37
Lime, ---- 1.37 8.93 2.94
Sulphuric acid, ---- ---- ---- 2.21
Alkaline salts, 7.97 10.25 6.04 2.70
Sand, 1.66 15.85 40.62 7.56
------- ------- ------- -------
100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000
Ammonia, 17.00 18.80 2.11 2.69
It will readily be seen there is a vast difference in the value of the
Chilian, and though not stated, there is as great a difference in the
Patagonian, while that from Peru, owing to the fact that it never rains
upon the depository, is of a uniform quality. As the principal value of
guano consists of the ammonia and phosphates, it is easily calculated.
17 per cent. of ammonia is equal to 340 lbs. in
a ton of 2,000 at 12-1/2 cents, $42.50
23.48 per cent. of phosphates is equal to 470 lbs.
in a ton at 1-1/2 cents, 7.05
Alkaline salts, 5.00
______
Value of a ton of Peruvian guano, $54.55
To this may be added the advantage of having these valuable substances
in the best possible condition, so finely pulverized they are ready
prepared for the use of plants.
It may be taken as an incontrovertible fact then, that guano is a cheap
and good manure for any land and any crop which would be benefitted by
the best quality of farm yard manure and ground bones. It is most
beneficial on poor sandy loam, absolutely unproductive; and most
profitable when applied to any land which cannot be otherwise manured on
account of distance and transportation of grosser articles. The better
the land is kept in tilth, the better will be the effect of an
application of guano. The public may also be assured of another fact; if
the guano is bought direct from the agents of the Peruvian government in
this country, or of reliable merchants, who get their supplies direct
from them, it will be of a uniform quality and value, as indicated by
the analysis just given.
They may also rest assured, and the author of this pamphlet believes his
reputation will warrant the assertion and belief, that he could not be
hired to puff an unworthy article, or write a book to induce American
farmers, to purchase an article which would not prove highly beneficial
to their best interests.
The author does know that the introduction of guano into this country is
a blessing to the nation. Its general use will not only increase the
wealth of individuals, but that of the body politic. Let us illustrate
this point by a statement of an English writer of its advantages to that
country. He says--"The importance of this question may be easily
illustrated. We grow in this country about 4,000,000 acres of wheat
annually. An application of two hundred weight of guano to each acre
would increase the produce by six bushels, or raise the average of
England from 26 to 32 bushels an acre, giving a total increase to our
home produce of 3,000,000 quarters of wheat, which is of itself
equivalent to a larger sum than the whole diminution of rent stated by
the Chancellor of the Exchequer to have been occasioned by free trade in
corn. But this is only one use to which guano would be applied, for its
effects are even more valuable to green crops than to corn."
The proportionate advantage to this country would be almost
inconceivably greater as our average product is far less, and the
increased number of bushels per acre, far more; the produce of land as
stated by Mr. Newton and others, having been raised from 3 to 15 or 20
bushels per acre.
The estimation in which it is held by some of the best farmers in the
world may be judged by the increased demand in England.
The quantity of Peruvian guano annually imported has risen from 22,000
tons in 1846 to 95,000 tons in 1850, but has increased during the last
year to about 200,000 tons. If the price were reduced by £2 to £3 a ton,
even the present large supply would be found greatly short of the
increased demand. In a single season, in 1845, when the price of Ichaboe
guano ranged from 6£ to 7£ a-ton, the importation with an open trade
rose to 220,000 tons. A reduction of 2£ to 3£ a ton would be followed by
an extraordinarily increased consumption. Twice the present importation
might be taken advantageously for the wheat crops alone. It seems to be
held by the Government that the right of Peru to the Lobos Islands is
unquestionable. It is, in that case, only by friendly negotiation that
anything can be done. Considerations should be pressed on the present
Ministry, pledged as they are to promote the landed and shipping
interests. If they can persuade the Peruvian Government, by friendly
negotiation, that the interests of that country as well as ours will be
benefited by opening the guano trade, they will confer an important
service on this country; a full supply would contribute materially to
restore the prosperity of the landed interest by increasing their
produce at diminished cost; and it would give regular employment to
about one-tenth of the whole mercantile navy of England.
Undoubtedly! an increased supply, or rather an increased consumption,
would tend materially to restore, in England and in America, to build up
the landed interest, by increasing the product of the land at diminished
cost. If farmers could buy guano at lower prices, it is argued all would
use it. Undoubtedly again! Because their profits would be greater. So
great in fact, the temptation to make money out of the purchase and use
of guano few could withstand "such a chance for a speculation."
But as they cannot induce the Peruvians to let them have it at a lower
price, and as they can make money out of it at the present price, is it
not a suicidical measure upon the part of the owners of unprofitable
land, to refuse to use guano, because they cannot get it at their own
price, while they can certainly profit by its use at present prices.
_The Guano Monopoly._--Much prejudice has been excited against the
agents and principal dealers in this country by the cry of monopoly. Are
those who cry _wolf_ the loudest, entirely clear themselves, of a
fondness for fat mutton? The following extract from a letter of Edward
Stabler of Maryland, gives a more fair, impartial view of the subject.
He says; "Odious and grinding as monopolies usually become, and hard as
this one seems to bear upon the agriculturist's interests, it still
appears to be about as fair as ordinary mercantile transactions. The
Peruvians may be considered the producers, and like our farmers and
planters, may at times require advances from the commission merchant;
and in proportion to the prices obtained, are his profits increased; nor
does any one censure the merchant for selling at the highest price he
can. Dealers, or speculators, if you please, are always censured for
raising the price of guano. Is not the same thing done every day, and
every hour in the day, by the purchase and sale of flour, wheat, corn,
and tobacco--and is not the price of almost every article of commerce
regulated in a great degree by the supply and demand? Most certainly;
and so long as there is a probability of profit by the purchase and sale
of this article, and just so long, and no longer, will the 'trade in
second hands' continue. If the present supply is inadequate to the
demand, by an almost undeviating rule in commerce, the price is
enhanced, until at a point to drive the consumer from the market. This
however, is not quite so soon attained with guano, under the present
excitement, as with many other things. I have viewed this matter in a
different light from some others, though erroneous as some may suppose,
and do not think that censuring the dealers will cover the true ground
of complaint, or at all tend to remove the existing difficulty. Their
agency is, if I may use the term--but in no offensive sense--a kind of
necessary evil; for the importer will not retail, and it suits but few
of the consumers comparatively, to club together, and purchase in large
quantities. The price of guano is owing mainly, if not entirely, to this
monopoly in the import trade; and it would be the same thing, and a
monopoly still, whether in the hands of English or American merchants;
with also, about the same amount of liberality to be looked for, from
one as from the other."
Is there anything so unfair in this, that we should cry out "wicked
monopoly." The Peruvian government, after the revolution, finds itself
deeply in debt, and greatly in want of money, and in possession of one
of the most valuable fertilizing substances in the world, which the
people of other governments are in want of, or rather, may profit by the
use of, which she offers to sell at what she deems a fair price; and for
the purpose of enabling her to borrow money for immediate necessities,
as well as to pay the war debt, she has given some of her citizens--rich
merchants, who can advance money, certain privileges and advantages in
the guano trade, upon condition that they will send a supply to all the
countries where it can be sold, and in as great quantities as they will
buy at fixed prices. This is the monopoly. A parallel case can be found
nearer home. The government of the United States, also incurred a
revolutionary war debt, and also came in possession of an article which
the people of all other countries want, and unlike that possessed by
Peru, an article which they must have. Upon this necessity of life, our
government has fixed a price, which any one may pay or let it alone--buy
or not, just as he pleases. The government will neither sell to citizens
or strangers at half price, nor let them have the use of it without pay;
in fact, will not let us carry away anything of value from this
property, although it might not materially injure the sale of the
principal and most valuable portion, which is immovable. Such is the
"guano monopoly" of one government, and such is the "land monopoly" of
the other. Which is most wicked?
Of the right of each government, no honest man will dispute. That Peru
has as much right to the guano upon her desert islands, as the United
States has to the live oak timber in the deserts of Florida; or as
England has to the codfish in the waters of Newfoundland, seems to be as
clear as any right ever exercised by any power on earth. Each protect
their own by hired agents, so far as they are able, to prevent dishonest
men from carrying away that which each considers valuable.
If English and United States citizens have a right to go and seize upon
the guano and bring it off in defiance of Peru, because the guano
islands are not inhabited, then have we a right to seize all the codfish
in the waters of the sea, because nobody lives there--they cannot live
there--they only live on the lands adjacent, and therefore have no
right to anything except what they stand upon. Then by the same rule
may the lands of the United States be seized upon, because they are
unoccupied.
By virtue of decrees now in force, no vessel, either under the national
or any foreign flag, has a right to go to the Peruvian guano deposits,
without first obtaining permission from the Peruvian Government under
penalty of confiscation.
Foreign vessels, furnished with government licences, are allowed to load
at the Chinche Islands only.
Finally, any attempt to load vessels without the proper licences, would
subject them to be seized by the Government vessels appointed to cruise
off, and visit the different guano deposits, in order to prevent not
only the illegal extraction of guano by foreign trading vessels, but
also to prevent the natives of Peru from violating the Government orders
against visiting those localities, and destroying or disturbing the
birds.
Notwithstanding this cuts off the free trade in the article, it goes to
show what we have always endeavored to impress upon the minds of
American farmers, that the supply is inexhaustible--at least in this age
and generation--and as every one grows wiser and wiser, it is probable
the next will have no occasion to use such an old fashioned article as
bird dung for manure. During the present, however, our advice is to
every person occupying land which needs something to improve its
fertility, to use guano--genuine Peruvian guano--purchased of reliable
merchants--and the fewer the better between the importer and consumer.
_The Quantity inexhaustible._--By those surveys, the quantity was
ascertained to be upwards of TWENTY MILLIONS OF TONS. As this must
appear so enormous as to be almost incredible, we present the annexed
cut, supposed to represent a vertical section of one of the Chincha
islands and the depth of the deposit according to the government
surveys. The paralel lines at the bottom represent the level of the
water--the crooked line above, the surface of the rock; its position
having been ascertained by boring and observations of the surveyors. The
rounded line is the surface of the island as it now appears; all between
that and the rock being guano. The almost perpendicular line at the left
hand, 100 feet high, is the rock at which ships lay to take in cargo.
The space under the dotted line show a comparison of the quantity taken
away, as it relates to the whole upon the island. The well hole
represented in that section was dug some fifty feet deep to prove the
guano was of equal quality at the bottom.
The Chincha Islands are three in number; not remote from each other or
differing very materially in size or general feature. The Geological
formation presents the appearance of masses of rock jutting out above
the surface of the ocean--and occasionally rising nearly perpendicularly
to a height of from 50 to 100 feet. At a distance, the islands present
to the eye a somewhat conical form; owing probably to the greater
deposits of guano in the centre; and all appear equally rich in quantity
and quality.
The "North Island" is estimated to be about 300 feet at its greatest
elevation; it is about 1-1/2 miles in length, and from 1/2 to 3/4 of a
mile average width. In sailing round them, the guano appears to many
places to extend to the water's edge.
[Illustration: SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE NORTH CHINCHA ISLAND.]
All the guano islands are uninhabited, except by the laborers, mostly
Indians or poor Chinamen, who are employed in the work of digging,
carrying and loading the guano into the ships. When a vessel is ready to
take in cargo, she is moored alongside of the rocks almost mast head
high, from the top of which the guano is sent down through a canvass
shute directly into the hold of the ship. Thus several hundred tons can
be put on board in a day. The trimming of the cargo is a very unpleasant
part of the labor. The dust and odor is almost overpowering; so the men
are obliged to come often on deck for fresh air. The rule is to remain
below as long as a candle will burn; when that goes out, the air is
considered unfit for respiration. If the labor had to be performed by a
Yankee, he would think it unfit at first; and thereupon set his ready
wit at work to construct a machine to spread the guano as it fell, from
one end of the hold to the other. The guano in position upon the island,
is so compact it has to be dug up with picks. It is then carried to a
contrivance made of cane, at the edge of the rock, which conveys it into
the canvass conductors. The mass is cut down in steps, receding and
rising from the point of commencement, and has not yet attained a depth
of 100 feet, and with all the labor of hundreds of men digging, and
numerous ships carrying away to the several countries using it, there is
but a bare beginning of removal made upon the mass upon one island only,
as may be seen by reference to the diagram.
Supposing like many others, the supply of Peruvian guano was like the
Ichaboe, destined to run out--that is all be dug up and carried away; we
inquired of an intelligent captain of a ship just returned with a load,
how long it would be before the supply would be exhausted. "Exhausted!"
said he, with a look over the gangway, as much as to say how long would
it take to exhaust the ocean with a pint cup; "why not in one hundred
years, if every ship afloat should go into the trade, and load and
unload as fast as it would be possible to perform the labor; no, not
from the Chincha islands alone. Exhausted! they never will be
exhausted." With due allowance for the captain's enthusiasm, we may be
very certain from the government surveys, the quantity is so great, that
no probability exists of the supply being exhausted until all the
present inhabitants of this earth have ceased to move upon its surface.
We may be certain of another fact; that unless we commit a great
national wrong upon Peru, by seizing upon some of her guano territory; a
thing which the sober second thought of this nation will never sanction;
we shall not be able to obtain the article only through her government
agents, at such prices as her rulers think proper to affix to it. While
the demand and the result of the use of guano continues as at present,
there is not much probability of any material change.
The Peruvian Government are, of course, anxious to sell all that the
world want, and are willing to pay for at remunerating prices. The
Peruvian minister, in reply to the Secretary of State at Washington
says:--"The Peruvian Government, in leasing out its rights and
interests, as a proprietor of the article, adopted the only system that
was supposed likely to create a demand for guano; while, on the other
side, it was bound to leave the consignment as security, in the hands of
those persons who had hazarded their capital in meeting the heavy
expenses attending the process of freighting, and in making the advances
which were required to facilitate the exportation and construct the
depots. Far from establishing a selfish monopoly, which would have
proved injurious to its own interests, or fix a high, deliberate, and
conventional price upon the article, it has only aimed to secure a net
profit, reduced to the lowest possible standard, exceeding very little
the actual amount of expenses; and there have been accounts of sales
rendered exhibiting both loss and damage.
"The guano, therefore, is not monopolized; the government as the
proprietor, has forwarded it, on its own responsibility, to those
markets where it was in demand; selecting as consignees, as it was
natural and proper it should do, those persons or houses who have
advanced the capital necessary to defray the expenses; and, as these are
much greater in all cases of remittances to England, and it follows that
the sale of the article in this country is at the rate of ten pounds
sterling per ton, the net profit has been less than what is realized in
the United States, where the farmers obtain it at lesser prices. Nor has
my government imposed any restrictions, duties, or determinate value on
the exportation of guano, although it might and could do so with perfect
propriety; because such action would have militated to the detriment of
its own interests as the proprietor of the article. Its object has been
to send it to those markets where it was in demand; because, as it had
not yet become an object of decided and positive interest to the
consuming world, and there being no certainty of its attaining saleable
prices, to create a market as it was impossible for individuals to send
to Peru for supplies, with any prospect of even moderate profit."
This is a fair statement of the case; and ought to be perfectly
satisfactory to the consumers. The disposition of some men to create
prejudice against the government of Peru, or the agents who sell guano
in this country, because the price is too high, is a wicked one. Men can
make money by purchasing at the present prices; and the owners of the
article think they cannot make it by selling at a lower price. We have
heard it urged as a reason why it should be sold at lower prices, that
the agents and merchants engaged in its sale are making fortunes. So are
flour merchants--so are farmers who grow the wheat--but that is no
reason why it should be sold lower.
With all our heart, we wish the Peruvians would give us guano at half
price; but because they will not, there is no reason why the people of
this country should refuse to use an article which will most assuredly
make them grow rich faster than those who are engaged in selling it.