TREATMENT OF BONES. 221 



Mr. Weston. No, sir ; they will lie there a long time without 

 being decomposed. 



Pi'of. Fernald. Is there any other way in which bones can be 

 prepared so as to be useful when applied to the soil ? 



Mr. Weston. The best method is first to grind them and then 

 to treat them with sulphuric acid, thus making superphosphate ; 

 or they may be applied after being ground only, in which case 

 they act more slowly ; or whole bones may be treated with unr- 

 leached ashes ; first a layer of one and then of another, letting 

 them remain together long enough for the bones to be decomposed 

 and fall apart. This, however, requires a long time. It is much 

 better to grind the bones first, or at least to break them as fine as 

 possible. And where bones cannot be had in sufficient quantity, 

 various other substances containing phosphate of lime may be 

 used with advantage in their place. 



On motion of Mr. Gilbert, the subject was laid on the table and 

 the meeting adjourned. 



. AFTERNOON SESSION. 



Secretary Goodale. Before the commencement of the regular 

 exercises of the afternoon, I desire to offer a single suggestion to 

 the students present. Mr. Chamberlain has invited you to visit 

 his grounds, and you will doubtless embrace some opportunity to 

 do so. Now there is is a wide difference between barely looking 

 at objects and carefully observing them. The one may yield little 

 profit, the other may be highly instructive. If you notice with 

 care during your visit, you will see many trees, shrubs and plants 

 which are not indigenous to this section, and which are rarely 

 grown here or near here. You will find several nut-bearing trees, 

 as the hickory, chestnut, several rare kinds of oaks, black walnut, 

 and various others ; and you can learn the varying degrees of 

 success attending his care for each, under the existing conditions 

 of soil, climate, etc. So, too, of fruits. I was forcibly struck 

 with what I there learned regarding the grape. This place is 100 

 to 150 miles north of where I reside, and you would naturally expect 

 to find the grape later in ripening here than there, but such I find is 

 by no means uniformly the case, but even the contrary with sev- 

 eral varieties. Another fact I learned with regard to the one 

 known as the " Early Hudson." This grape I procured a dozen 

 years ago or more, when it was first disseminated. With me it 



