Show q 4 q ests wp 4 RM R M og 41 pg K heaping Screen screened bd guano for transfer to Mai niana prepared by the national geographic society washington D C peru already of considerable agricultural importance and destined t to 0 become much more so Is ig fortunate in having one of the most valuable sources of natural fertilizer in the world its famous bird islands on which thousands of tons of guano gilano are deposited in a sort of annual crop these deposits rich in precious nitrogen arvo been laid down on the islands for thou thousands ands of years and until recently there seemed a well nigh inexhaustible mine of the material but the tremendous world demand which arose near the middle ol of the past century brought in its train wasteful method 3 and all the accumulated deposits have been stripped away the annual accumulations are still available ho however weer and are arc worth many hundreds of thousands of dollars perus peculiar geographical conditions make possible the preservation of her valuable guano crop A few bbowers might wash away like valuable fertilizer but thanks to its mountain masses its very cold offshore off shore waters and its pre prevailing vallin winds the region of the elrd bird islands Is I 1 ralle rainless guano it will be understood Is primarily the deposit of fish eating cating birds into which may be mixed and incorporated in greater or less proportion a variety of other substances such ns as the eggs and bodies of birds and the deposits and the bodies ot of sea lions it may be found mixed with gravel and sand in very small proportion or sometimes to lo an extent rendering it unprofitable to extract peruvian guano Is best Per peruvian guano Is practically synonymous with nith nitrogenous guano and has long been recognized as the best nitrogenous fertilizer that Is as a fertilizer of generally high nitrogen value in which the nitrogen compounds are found in a condition most readily by our plants Nitro nitrogen geil Is a primary necessity to tho the farmer whatever be the importance of adding to the sol potash and other mineral components of our food and our clothing there never exists a doubt as to the fundamental imbor tance af pf of nitrogen consequently a pecullar peculiar interest attaches atta clies to birds of the Pe peruvian islands which haie long served to aid tho the worlds agriculture and which given due protection may continue indefinitely to contribute materially teri ally to the support of humanity tile peculiar climatic conditions previously mentioned offer merely the proper environmental conditions forthe for the preservation of the product the primary requisite tor for abundant bird life Is the existence of a n plentiful food supply and tills la is found I 1 in the schools of small fish called ancl an cho io betas that swarm in the peruvian current there shoals ol of fish fasti acres in extent tire are often pursued in the water mater and other large fish while be beset tet from the air by thousands 0 of birds billions of pounds of fish elsh must be consumed each year by the birds besides the incalculable quantity devoured by other fishes but tile the fecundity of the ancho betas la is such that their nul libe s are still maintained at times great creat acres of the sea are made red by myriads ot of small brightly io colored lored shrimp like and these too play a part of I 1 importance m as food for tile the fishes and will birds islands lands crowded with Gua nays not kot all of the birds are of equal importance from the commercial point of view indeed three ly the guano industry at the present alme tt ne the white breast cormorant gu guanay anny tle the big gray pelican and the whitehead white head gunner gannet occur on the peruvian coast from near th the northern to tile the extreme southern boundary but their preeminent home Is tile tho double group of 0 islands opposite risco pisco in the south the Chin chinchas chas and the ballestas Call estas the largest guanay locks flocks are found on tile the chincha Chin clia islands upon the south island of thel the chinchas Clil Chin chaS a small nad and generally triangular body of land between beav een 20 2 0 and 30 acres in area there Is 19 a rookery N fifth for size and compactness comis pact ness can call scarcely be remd in any part of the world tile the nesting ground around occupies couples 0 about two thirds of the surface of the island embracing the crown and tho the antle dopes of the hill that surmount its if lov blurt bluff walls walla the nests are very uniformly spaced averaging nearly three to the square yard and not a yard of ground within the outside limits of the he rookery Is unoccupied in form and arrangement the nests appear p ear as heavy rolled rim basins stuck into the hillside I 1 the guanay well deserves its common name its gregarious habit its it choice of the level places or more gentle slopes for nesting grounds and its custom of remaining on the islands a great part of atthe the time nil all com bine to cause the formation of enormous ail ous deposits of gunno guano from which there Is little natural in the re region ion where this bird Is most mat abundant about the ChIn chinchas chas and bal alestas islands the climate conditions are most favorable to the tha preservation of the nitrates it Is doubtful it if the guano of the ChIn chinchas chas and ballestas Bal lestaa islands Is ever wet from atmospheric moisture A pair of 0 gu annys allays with their offspring produce nearly worth of guano per year how the th work wor la Is done the guano workers tire are practically all peruvians of the ancient stock and many of them come down from the tha mountains to engage in tills work often there are few in the camp who can speak spanish and the foreman can communicate with the employees only by signs or through gh an interpreter the extraction of guano Is a very simple process where the material Is co comparatively recent tho the only implements clements ts required are the pick and tile shovel a screen and a few sacks the surface cake Is first broken up and thrown into small heaps where several contractors have a concession from the government covering tile tha sli same island there Is much rivalry in getting the best guano mounded for this Is the only recognized method of 0 esta establishing blushing bli shing a clatin claim to LL particular field the guano Is subsequently pitched through slanting wire screens to remove the gravel and then sacked for embarkation by gauchas lanchas lan lau chas which are strongly constructed lighters in tile the form of rowboats adapted for use in the heavy swell liable to prevail about tile islands A very common method of convey ing the guano to the lighter Is by means ot of the and arIvel n an n aerial trolley consisting of two stout wire mire cables suspended between a frame at the top of the hie island and some convenient rock somewhat removed from the shore the alie boat Is rowed beneath the lower part of the cable to receive the guano lowered by pulleys and windlass both ends of the line being attached to traveling pulleys the sacks of 0 guano descending by gravity draw the empty sacks back no power Is applied to the windlass except to prevent the too rapid descent of the guano when the lancha Is loaded it Is rowed out to the vessel where the sacks are hoisted into ma hold bold A much more ex extensive equipment la is found on the larger islands of the n orth north an american company contracting tr for the peruvian exporters has laid lines of track for conveying the guano by tram cars cam and tho screening is done from tr astles over a lower leel lei el track by tar far the greatest portion of the th gunno guano that lias has been exported consisted of 0 the ancient deposits culled called mineral guano which in iff places covered tile islands to great depths this has been simply stripped away until scarcely any of 0 the old guano remains except some of tile the lowest grades that scarcely justify exportation it Is within the bounds of possibility blint additional deposits burled buried beneath the surface Bur face may inny yet be located unless tails be the case tile ind industry astry Is permanently reduced to the annual deposits which scarcely exceed the demands of Peru peruvian ylan agriculture in its present condition without providing for the great future developments in land cultivation in that country that must follow sooner or later with tile the al adoption option of more elaborate systems of irrigation though tile the important birds have been greatly reduced in numbers it Is reasonable to expect a substantial increase under natural conditions it if interference with the breeding be fro r deuced to the minimum consistent with the utilization or 0 tho the derositt deros tt |