Re: did you know
Kitty,
Do you have a citation? I was just mentioning guano and its effect on early
gardens in this country to my garden design class. I'd love to give them a
link or something.
d
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kitty" <kmrsy@comcast.net>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2008 3:02 PM
Subject: [CHAT] did you know
The history of Bat Guano and American Expansion
Stemming from the Incan language (Quichua) for "bird droppings", guano is
thought to have been used for centuries in both South American and Pacific
Islander civilizations. The Incas discovered that bat rookeries
established on nearby island chains contained vast amounts of this
excellent soil fertilizer, which were easily accessible and provided
amazing results when used on corn and bean crops. Spanish explorers took
both the word and the practice back with them to Europe. Guano soon became
a valuable commodity, rivaling only gold in its value as an import of the
new world.
Later, American farmers eagerly took to using Bat Guano as well, with
Congress going so far as establishing the Guano Island Act in 1856. This
act secured future guano supplies by allowing ocean islands to be claimed
as territories in the name of harvesting guano. Incidentally, many
currently owned American Territories were established in this manner such
as Johnson Atoll and the famous Midway Island, which served as an
important forward base of operations during World War II.
It wasn't until after the invention of gunpowder that early chemists
discovered that components of bat guano also lent itself to the production
of powerful explosives. Guano harvesting was increased as the military
found a new use for the unorthodox fertilizer. Bat guano operations began
to spring up all across the world, from the remote corners of New Zealand
to the depths of the Grand Canyon, and they have continued in production
ever since.
Today, Bat guano is still in use as both a fertilizer and a component of
some ammunitions. Bat guano has even been taken into space aboard the
Mercury and Gemini space capsules, and was used as the propellant to
deploy the radio transmission antennas after splashdown. Bat guano may
have originally been a discovery of the ancients, but its usefulness for
modern society can still be seen today.
I bet Cathy knew all this.
Kitty
neIN, Zone 5
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