804 BOARD OF AQRICULTURE. 



loam, it pulverizes the soil admirably ; and a somewhat light land 

 6ward was turned by it as well as could be desired. On the 

 whole I have been exceedingly pleased with its work wherever I 

 have had occasion to use it. 



Question, Is the superphosphate, manufactured by the Cum- 

 berland Bone Company, a good top-dressing for grass land ? 



Secretary Goodale. I would rather not be questioned with re- 

 gard to that particular brand, because, being employed as their 

 chemist to direct its manufacture, my answer might be open to 

 criticism as unduly influenced by parental partiality, if not also 

 by self interest. There are plenty of those who use it, and they 

 can give you their opinion of its merits. But with regard to any 

 good superphosphate, I will say, that the testimony regarding its 

 efficacy upon grass lands is as conflicting as it is with regard to 

 gypsum, ashes, or any other fertilizer. In some cases it has 

 proved highly efficacious and profitable, in others the benefit has 

 not equaled the cost. I would be cautious in applying it in any 

 given case before I had tested its efficacy by application to a small 

 spot here and there. If the land is such as is improved by leached 

 ashes, you may probably use it successfully, for the chief value of 

 leached ashes is due to the pl^osphatcs they contain. • 



Another hint may assist in forming a judgment. If your cattle 

 are found occasionally gnawing at a bone as if it were a choice 

 morsel, the indication is very plain that your pastures are lacking 

 in bone-forming material. This is a common and growing evil, 

 and will grow more and more so until the cattle become seriously 

 afflicted with " bone disease," unless you apply phosphates to the 

 land in some form. It is very common in such cases to give the 

 cows bone meal with their food, and it is good as any temporary 

 palliative is good, but it is a miserably shiftless method com- 

 pared with the better way of giving it to them in the herbage 

 grown upon land which has been supplied with phosphate, for by 

 this method the crops are increased in amount, and in richness also, 

 and thus they are supplied with wluit they need to form bone 

 in the best possible form, and with what will make milk and meat 

 in addition. 



I have been surprised to learn the extent to which bone meal is 

 bought and used, especially for milch cows. It indicates the ex- 

 haustion of pastures to an alarming extent ; and it indicates also 

 the constituent which is lacking. If the exhaustion were shown 

 merely by scanty growth, we might as readily infer that potash or 



