GUANO

The earliest record of guano, bird droppings, being used as a fertiliser was in North Africa in 200 B.C. where the Carthaginians used it. The historians Cato and Columella highly recommended pigeons’ dung for meadows, corn fields and gardens. Its use as fertiliser was also evidenced in the twelfth century in Arabia and Peru, where the dry, sterile soils were improved by its application. In fact, the Incas of Peru deemed it a capital offence to kill the young birds on the guano islands and forbade its extraction during the mating season.

The Spanish mined small amounts during their colonial period in South America but it was not until the nineteenth century that its large scale exploitation commenced. (Waggaman, W.H. 'Phosphoric Acid, Phosphates and Phosphatic Fertilizers,' Reinhold Publishing Corp. New York, 1952, p.2; Millar, C.H. 'Florida, South Carolina, and Canadian Phosphates,' Eden Fisher and Co., London, 1892, p12)

Following expeditions round the South American peninsula at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the German explorer and botanist, Alexander von Humboldt, found the guano islands and took some back to Germany in 1804. For thousands of years sea birds such as the cormorant, booby and pelican returned to roost on the Chincha and other islands after a day of feeding on the abundant sea life, especially anchovies and herring, which were fed by the cold Humboldt current sweeping north up the Peruvian coast. This rainless coast preserved a high concentration of nitrogen in the bird droppings which would otherwise have been leached out in a moist. rainy climate. It has been estimated that one square mile of the occupied Peruvian islands supports as many as 5.6 million birds eating 1,000 tons or more of fish a day to sustain the colony. (Murphy, 'Bird Islands of Peru,' G.P. Putnam & Son, New York, 1925

Experiments on its use in Europe did not reveal it had a commercial value until the 1830s when chemical analysis showed that plant roots depended on nitrates and phosphates. The first reputed use in the United States was in 1832 and in Great Britain in 1835 where it initially proved a failure. However, further tests showed it useful and the first documented sale was in July 1839 when Messrs. Myers of Liverpool imported a consignment of 30 bags.

"...At that time the supply of artificial manures consisted of very moderate importations of bone and rapecake; and with these exceptions, the British farmers' command of fertiliser was confined to the sweepings of his chimneys and the contents of his own farmyard. This seems almost incredible at the present day as would have been the announcement in 1839, that a score of years would not pass before a fleet of vessels would be permanently engaged in the artificial manure trade, and when the mountain ranges of Europe, the plains of America, and the islands of the tropical seas would all ne ransacked for materials to enrich our turnip fields, and thus enable us to increase our flocks and herds. Yet those who looked somewhat incredulously at the brown, effete-looking substance, then known by the Spanish name of "huano," have lived to see it become one of the principal means by which British Agriculture has succeeded in producing the quantity of savoury chops and much loved roast beef required to satisfy the cravings of John Bull and his numerous family."

(Thompson, H.S., M.P., 'Agricultural Progress and the Royal Agricultural Society,' Journ. Ag.Soc. vol.xxv,1864, p42)

The earliest guano exporter was Francisco de Quiroz, a prominent Peruvian entrepreneur and capitalist, of Quiroz, Allier and Company of Lima. He drew on capital from various English firms, principally William Myers and Gibbs, Crawley and Co. It was estimated that in 1840 there were 12,000,000 tons available, a reserve exploited by both American and European shippers. (Clayton,A. 'W.R.Grace and Co. The Formative Years,' Jameson Books,Illinois, 1985,p25; Wheeler,J.H. 'Manures and Fertilizers,' Macmillan,,New York,1913,pp75-6)

In December 1840 de Quiroz entered a six-year contract with the Peruvian government for its exclusive export and the first commercial shipment in the Bonanza arrived in Liverpool, England in summer, 1841. Chemical analysis showed it to contain 29% phosphate of lime, higher than any other available manure and when its first trial in Mr. Skirving's Liverpool nursery upon grass and turnips established its reputation, it was acknowledged as being far superior to any known manure. It sold out rapidly and dearly at £18 per ton.

When the cost of production, shipping, insurance, etc. amounted to only 6, it represented a 100% return on their investment. As the contractor paid only a small proportion of this as royalty to the Peruvian government they withdrew the contract and entered, from their point of view, far more favourable four-year contracts with several companies. One of the ablest scholars of the era, W.M. Mathew, noted that the second and third contracts up until 1842 "involved a progressive and very notable strengthening of the government's position." (Mathew, W.M. 'Foreign Contractors and the Peruvian Government,' Hispanic American Historical Review,600; Clayton,op.cit.p.25-6; Reminiscences of a Suffolk Clergyman,1862)

As well as its phosphate of lime, its high nitrogen content made it, despite its high price, particularly successful to European and American farmers and the profits to be made prompted further exploration for guano islands. By 1844 it was the major fertiliser in use. However, exports from Peru slumped in the mid-1840s when English

merchants found other sources of guano, principally on the Ichaboe Islands in the South Atlantic but also off the coasts of Bolivia and Chile. Peruvian exports remained low until 1848 when the Ichaboe deposits had been almost exhausted and the guano fleet returned to the Chincha islands.

By this time American shipping companies had moved into the business and began sales to Baltimore, where a new manure industry was setting up. The early 1840s in Great Britain had seen a growth in the manure trade with John Bennett Lawes' successful patenting of a technique of converting phosphatic materials into superphosphate by dissolving them in sulphuric acid. Having a dramatic effect on turnip roots in particular, sales increased dramatically and many manure manufacturers went into large scale production of superphosphate, as well as selling guano.

By the end of the 18th century the phosphatic marl beds of New Jersey started to be exploited as a fertiliser and animal bones were not used as a plant food until 1825. The first bone mill was built in 1830 and soon large quantities of buffalo bones were collected from the western plains. However, superphosphate was not manufactured until 1852. (In Blakey, A.F., 'The Florida Phosphate Industry,' Wertheim Committee,Harvard,1973,pp.5-8; Shrader,Jay, 'Hidden Treasures: The

Pebble Phosphates of the Peace River Valley of South Florida,' Bartow, Florida, Varn and Varn, 1891, p.57; Collings, Gilbeart H. 'Commercial Fertilizers: Their Sources and Use' New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co. 1955,p.2,4-6,180; Jordan, Weymouth T. 'The Peruvian Guano Gospel in the Old South,' (U.S.)Agricultural History,XXIV,October 1950,pp211-221)

Following the discovery in the 1830s that mineral phosphates could be mixed with sulphuric acid to produce superphosphate, a new fertilizer was found. o searches on the continent and also in the United States. By 1851 the secretary of the British Agricultural Society, following an instruction by the council to make special enquiries on the subject of the occurrence of mineral phosphate of lime in the United States, was able to read a paper on the American deposits so far discovered. As well as those in New Jersey and New York he suspected other deposits would soon be found in other states and also in Canada. New Jersey crystalline phosphate, up to 95 % phosphate content was imported by Messrs. Jevons, of Stamford Place, Liverpool. "One vein alone, discovered in New Jersey would supply the English market for many years."

Seeing the enormous potential in the American market entrepreneurs invested in this new industry and Baltimore became a major centre. Bones were shipped from the Great Plains, phosphatic rock from Canada and elsewhere and guano from the Pacific and Atlantic. Their sales served a useful function in introducing crop fertilization to American farmers, rejuvenating the depleted tobacco fields of Virginia. (Clayton,A. op.cit.p25; Thompson, H.S., M.P., 'Agricultural Progress and the Royal Agricultural Society,' Journ. Ag.Soc. vol.xxv,1864, p42; Blakey,A.F. "The Florida Phosphate Industry" Wertheim Committee, Harvard, 1973,pp.4-9; Collings, Gilbeart H. 'Commercial Fertilizers: Their Sources and Use' New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co. 1955,p.2; Jordan, Weymouth T. 'The Peruvian Guano Gospel in the Old South,' (U.S.) Agricultural History,XXIV,October 1950,pp211-221)

Another early record of its value as fertiliser was by a British agriculturalist, Mr. Way, who in 1849 reported to the Royal Agricultural Society:

"I am informed by a gentleman, who for several years has personally superintended the loading of the guano ships, that the island from which the Peruvian guano is brought, is one mass of manure, having a circumference of 5 or 6 miles. At the point where the guano is now worked, the height of the deposit is upwards of 80 feet, and the removal of some 200,000 tons has scarcely affected it in a perceptible degree. As may be imagined from the immense weight of the mass, and the gradual way in which it has been formed, its solidity is very considerable, and in some cases it may be necessary to blast it as we would a rock of sandstone or limestone. It will be obvious that in such circumstances the guano would be preserved with little loss...."

(Way,J.T. 'On the Composition and Value of Guano.' Journ.Ag.Soc.vol.x.1849,p208)

In the same article he reorted on another discovery which had been analysed as having between 14 and 23% earthy phosphate, slightly less valuable than the Chincha islands phosphates.

"There is a variety of guano, of which a few cargoes only have reached England, and which is known in Peru as Agnamos guano. It is in no way peculiar, except in being

above the average richness in ammonia, and somewhat whiter in colour. It is a deposit of recent formation, being collected by hand, and at considerable expense, from the rocks which the birds frequent - not more than 400 or 500 are annually obtained."

(Way,J. Ibid.p208)

By 1850 almost a hundred thousand tons of guano from the Chincha Islands alone was shipped into England alone but competition from coprolites and other phosphatic materials forced prices down to between £12 10 and £13 10 a ton. (Voelcker,Dr.A. Ph.D. Consulting chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society of England. 'Raw Materials

used as Manures, and Artificial Manures.' Rept. International Exhibition, 1862,pp149-53

Way determined that Ichaboe guano had less than half the ammonia salts than Agnamos but had a higher earthy phosphate content. Patagonian guano had high earthy phosphate content. Saldanha Bay guano had very low ammonia but high phosphate. 55% phosphates were sold in 1849 at between £4.10s. and £5 a ton. Ammonium sulphate from gas works was sold at £11 to £12 a ton. (Way 1849)

In October 1849, following the Peruvian congress introducing a "Chinese law" to encourage the importation of Chinese coolies, a wealthy guano entrepreneur, Domingo Elias, received a small subsidy of 30 pesos per head - to import immigrants. (Clayton p.29)

The actual work of extracting the guano mountains was not popular with Peruvians and in the labourers on these guano islands. In her book "Sons of the Yellow Emperor, Llyn Pan described the fate of the Chinese coolies in South America.

“The harshness of the job was made more cruel by the cruelty of the taskmasters, who used the lash to exhort the coolies to greater effort. The prospect of drudging in this inferno from day to day, month to month, year to year was dire enough to drive some of the labourers to take their own lives; guards had to be posted around the shores to prevent suicidal coolies from hurling themselves into the sea."

(Lynn Pan, 'Sons of the Yellow Emperor: The Story of the Overseas Chinese,' Secker and Warburg, London,1990,p70)

"An American Consul to Peru reported in 1870 that the Chinese put to labour on the guano islands had to clear a hundred wheelbarrow loads of the deposit a day, and that those who were too weak to stand up were made to work on their knees to pick the small stones out of the guano. It was vile work, a harrowing picture of which has been left us by an English observer sent to investigate the guano industry for British holders of Peruvian bonds: No hell has ever been conceived by the Hebrew, the Irish, the Italian, or even the Scotch mind for appeasing the anger and satisfying the vengeance of their awful gods, that can be equalled by the fierceness of its heat, the horror of its stink, and the damnation of those compelled to labour there, to a deposit of Peruvian guano when being shovelled into ships.

(Stewart Watt, 'Chinese Bondage in Peru: A History of the Chinese Coolie in Peru 1849-1874,' Westport, Greenwood Press,1970)

Of the Agnamos, Patagonian, Saldahna Bay guanos Way stated in 1849 that “although a certain limited supply is still in the market, it is understood that no great supplies are henceforth to be expected, except in the case of Peruvian guano. It is highly satisfactory to hear that the mountains of the latter are practically inexhaustible." Way,p212

As non-nitrogenous guanos, we receive phosphatic minerals from the West Indian Islands. These are caled Sombrero, Navassa, Malden and Curacoa., after the islets from which they are taken, and they are distinguished from Peruvian, Mejellones and Ichaboe kinds by the almost entire absence of ammonia, but the small quantity of organic matter, and by the large proportion of insoluble phosphates which they contain.

In 1852 the Royal Agricultural Society offered £1,000 for a substitute to guano and 50 sovereigns for the best account of geographical distribution of guano with suggestions for the discovery of any new source of supply. Journ.Ag.Soc. vol.xii, 1852,p.xix

Sombrero ROCK , OR CRUST GUANO. -

In 1859 Sir Roderick Murchison, the Director-General of the Geological Society acknowledged that he regretted that he had never had anything of importance to benefit the British farmer until he was able to read a paper to the Royal Agricultural Society on a new discovery of phosphatic rock.

"I am now, however, enabled to make an announcement which will, I have no doubt, be as acceptable to the readers of the Agricultural Journal' as it is interesting to the geographer and geologist, whilst it is likely to become very valuable to the merchant and shipowner. A few weeks ago my eminent friend Sir William Hooker enclosed to me a letter from his Excellency Mr. Hercules Robinson, recently Governor of St. Kitts, in the Leeward Islands, and now appointed Governor of Hong Kong, accompanying a box of specimens of rocks taken from three localities in the Anguillas Islands, lying immediately to the north of St. Kitts, and requesting me to have the specimens analysed in the laboratories of the School of Mines under my direction.

It appears that the Americans, in the course of the year 1858, quarried away some 30,000 tons of rock, the greater part of an island called Sombrero, to the north of Anguillas, and sold the substance in New York market at prices from 3l. 10s. to 6l. 10s. per ton, to the amount of 100,000l., for the purpose, it is said, of regenerating the exhausted lands of Virginia. Subsequently, the inhabitants of the Anguillas, knowing that some of their northern "keys" or rocky islets were similar in aspect to Sombrero, naturally desired to have these substances analysed."

(Murchison,Sir R.I. 'On the Commercial and Agricultural Value of certain Phosphatic Rocks of the Anguill Isles in the Leeward Islands.' Journ.Ag.Soc.vol.xx,1859,pp31-2)

The survey revealed that those from Little Angilla were low in phosphoric acid, Little Scrub had about 56 per cent and Blowing Rock 68%. compared to the 80% from the Sombrero rock. However, he was able to offer some positive aspect when he pointed out that the Sombrero phosphates were

"...taken from the heart of the rock; the Americans having cleared away all the overlying portions, even to the water's edge. On the other hand, the British specimens were merley gathered from the surface; and it is therefore probable that, when deeply quarried into, some of our "keys" may prove as valuable as the Sombrero rock....the discovery must be considered one of great national importance, in providing our agriculturalists, from a British possession, with a plentiful supply of a good substitute for the guano of Peru." (Ibid.)

As well as guano and the local and Cambridgeshire coprolites the manure manufacturers were keen to investigate other sources of phosphate supplies and by 1861 one of the Cambridgeshire surveyors, Carter Jonas, reported that,

"Sombrero phosphates... have recently become important in commerce from it being extensively used in the manufacture of Superphosphate of Lime for Agricultural purposes. It is obtained from the island of Sombrero, a small, hat shaped island, one of the West Indian group noted for its white cliff like appearance hitherto uninhabited and of no importance but now of great value for the entire surface being farmed for the phosphate which rises in high cliffs from which it is quarried and easily shipped to England."

(CUL.Add.7652 II Q)

“Sombrero Rock or CRUST GUANO. - Specimens of this interesting rock and valuable phosphatic mineral are shown by the London Manure Company and the Patent Nitro-phosphate Company. Sombrero rock, as the name implies, is quarried in the islet of Sombrero. A large portion of this islet has been quarried away already, and sold both in America and in England as crust or Sombrero guano. This is not an appropriate name, for this singular material is not a guano deposit, but in reality the rock itself of which the islet of Sombrero consists almost entirely. Most samples have a light yellowish green colour, which is, however, sometimes varied by a bright green or bright yellow, or violet, bluish, or pinkish hue. Sombrero rock contains a quantity of phosphoric acid, which on an average corresponds to about 76 per cent. of bone earth. Most of the phosphoric acid is united in lime, and some likewise with oxide of iron and alumina. This rock generally contains little carbonate of lime. Phosphatic rocks similar in composition has lately been discovered in the Anguilla Isles, forming part of the Leeward Islands."

(Voelcker,Dr.A. Ph.D. Consulting chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society of England. 'Raw Materials used as Manures, and Artificial Manures.' Rept. International Exhibition, 1862,pp149-53)

“Sombrero rock or crust guano was at one time largely imported into England, but at the present time very little arrives in this country. It is quarried on Sombrero, one of the group of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea; an islet about two and a half miles long, three quarters of a mile wide, and not more than 20 or 30 feet above the level of the sea, and which is entirely composed of this phosphatic substance. Fragments of bones are found in the rock, and it is supposed to be a breccia of bones of turtles and other marine vertebra, coral debris, &c., collected before the elevation of the islet above the water, and cemented together since by the droppings of birds, carried down through the mass by rains.

It varies in colour and texture, some being porous and friable, whilst other specimens are dense and compact. Recent importations have contained less iron and alumina and more carbonate of lime than formerly, and from this it is inferred that the rock (at present worked from under the sea) is mined in close proximity to the coral rock on which it rests. Varies between 69 and 76 per cent. On its own produces high grade super of light yellow colour.”

(Reid,W.C. 'Mineral Phosphates and Superphosphate of Lime,' Chemical News Aug.11th 1876 p56)

NAVASSO Guano from the coral island of that name in the Caribbean Sea, is of a reddish brown colour and consists of regular grains of phosphate of lime cemented into hard masses, and contaminated with a good deal of iron and alumina. It is found chiefly in the cavities of the rocks which form the framework of the island. 55-70 per cent. super when made from Navassa alone is exceedingly hard and tough, and proportionately low in strength.

(Ibid.)

CURACOA and MALDEN ISLANDS both furnish guanos, but they have lately been almost entirely sold on the Continent, where better prices seem to be obtainable. In these the phosphate of lime is in an unmineralised sate, and in a fine sate of division, they contain but little carbonate of lime, and are almos free from oxide of iron, alumina, and siliceous matter.65 - 70 capable of yielding high quality superphosphate. (Ibid.)

Reid provides a detailed description of methods of milling and mixing on p57. The same volume contained a paper by Dr. Voelcker on ‘Phosphatic guano and the means of increasing its Efficacy as a Manure.’ (Ibid.pp186-209)

By 1865 Lawes reported that the "agents of the Peruvian Government have removed restrictions which were formerly imposed upon the dealers in guano, and now permit them to employ it the manufacture of compound manures." (Lawes,J.B.Journ.Ag.Soc.2nd ser.vol.1,1865,p213)

"'I got a ton and a half of guano at Bradley's in High Street,"

said the Archdeacon,' and it was a complete take in. I don't believe

there was five hundred-weight of guano in it.'"

Trollope,'Barchester Towers, 1857' in Dewhurst,M. Fertiliser Progress During the Industrial Age,'Kemira Fertilisers,Chester,1991,p11)

By the 1870s the valuable deposits of guano were nearly exhausted, demand for other nitrogen fertilisers increased as the 'miraculous' guano became adulterated and spoilt, and lost its power to boost yields.

GUANO. Guano used to a large extent in Belgium where there was relative ignorance of the value of crushed bones, superphosphate etc. By 1874 guano was being imported from CALLAO, Pabillon de Pica, Punta de Lobos and Huanillos estimated volume as 7,680,500 tons. (Voelcker,Journ.Ag.Soc.1874 pp.541-2)

1875 Peruvian deposits almost exhausted, only 2,000,000 tons left and exports then dwindled until the end of the century. (Collings,p2)

BAT DUNG 15,000 to 20,000 tons found in caves in Texas and Arkansas. (Voelcker,A. 'On Bat's Guano' Journ.Ag.Soc.vol.xiv.1878, p.60-2)

By 1861 3.2 million tons of guano had been imported into Britain. (Millar,op.cit.p15) and its success led to other guano discoveries on islands such as the Maldon, Baker, Howland and Jarvis islands in the Pacific, islands off the east coast of South America, in the West Indies, off South and West Africa, as well as in the Arabian Gulf.

"The phosphate deposits of Navassa, a small island in the West Indies, may be cited as one instance of phosphate being formed from guano. here, the phosphate is taken in solution by rain water, and after being carried to a lower level is redeposited, replacing the carbonate of limestone. In one of the south Pacific Islands, limestone was observed to change to phosphate to a depth of several feet within a period of twenty years, the phosphoric acid in this instance being leached by rainwater from recently deposited guano."

(Ledoux,A.R. Trans.New York Academic Science,IX:85 1890; Florida Geological Survey, Second Annual Rept. (Tallahassee,Florida,1909,pp237-238)

Imports of Guano into the U.K. 1863-1888

From Peru From other Total Cost per ton

parts in £

1863 196,704 36,870 233,574 12 0 0

1864 113,086 18,272 131,358 12 0 0

1865 210,784 26,609 237,393 12 0 0

1866 109,142 26,555 35,697 12 0 0

1867 164,112 28,196 192,308 12 0 0

1868 150,374 26,377 177,351 12 3 0

1869 199,122 10,888 210,010 12 19 0

1870 243,434 36,877 280,311 13 6 0

1871 178,678

1872 118,704

1873 184,921

1874 112,285

1875 114,223

1876 210,918

1877 152,990

1878 178,178

1879 76,945

1880 78,965

1881 50,072

1882 45,095

1883 73,962

1884 48,284

1885 24,757

1886 68,744

1887 21,251

1888 25,052

Source: Journ.Ag.Soc. 1864-1889

By 1857 exports to US of two hundred and thirteen thousand tons had overtaken those to Great Britain and Yankee skippers outnumbered their British, French, German and Dutch counterparts, even exporting to Europe, (Nolan,L.C. ''The Diplomatic and Commercial Relations of the United States and Peru,' (Ph.D. Dissertation, Duke University, 1935, pp187 ff.)

By 1875 exports of nitrate of soda had overtaken guano exports.

Contractors were paid a percentage of the costs of extracting and transporting the guano, they habitually inflated the costs and defrauded the government to increase their profits. They also increased the volume of their sales, rather than raise the price of guano per ton, which would have been the government's preference given the exhaustibility of the resource. The effect of this ultimately was that guano was sold more cheaply than it might have been. Furthermore, abuses by the conseignees - who could not be monitored closely by the government - led to fraud and eventually the abandonment of a system originally intended to promote Peruvians over foreigners in the business. By 1868 they sold two million tons to the French mercantile house of the Dreyfus brothers who had built up their profits from guano since the 1860s. In return for paying off a significant part of the government's debt they became exclusive distributors of the guano to the European market and monopolised the trade until 1875 when it was terminated. (Clayton, op.cit.p53-5,61)

A new contract with British investors, incorporated as the Peruvian Guano Company Ltd. was concluded to sell Peruvian Guano, pay an annual stipend and service the Peruvian debt. Competition with Dreyfus forced prices down and by that time reserves had almost all been exhausted, leaving only low grade fertiliser which forced prices down further. (Refs.1, 4,21)

"...Genuine raw Peruvian guano must still be regarded as holding the fist place among manures on account of the relative proportioned of its constituents.”

There have been objections against guano in recent years either on grounds of price - some inferior guano has been sold at £12.10.0 which is price fixed by the Peruvian Government for guano of good quality.

Raw genuine guano imported from the Peruvian Government is analysed to check its contents and can be used with confidence. Usually the guano is in fine powdery condition fit to be sown by the drill. Any lumps are easily broken with a spade. Analysis shows ammonia composition of 7 to 10%, which is excellent.

Ammonia is a volatile substance and some will escape if the guano is not properly used. Guano should be well harrowed in or if used as a top dressing sown during rainy weather. Guano contains up to one third of phosphoric acid which is rendered soluble by oxalic aicd which is usually present in guano. These soluble phosphates are more valuable than the acid phosphates of lime produced artificially by treatment with sulphuric acid."

(W.R. Rau, "Genuine Peruvian Guano compared with other manures." East Anglian Handbook 1878 p.73)