58 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



dopth of seven inches and spread and harrowed in about four 

 cords of compost per acre. I used Day's bone manure at the 

 rate of 500 pounds per acre in the hill for corn, and in drill for 

 potatoes, leaving a row in each lot in which none was applied. 

 I had a fair crop of corn and potatoes, but could discover no 

 inferiority in the crop by measure, from the rows in which no 

 bone was applied, as compared with the remainder of the lot. 



The result of these trials satisfies me that I cannot afford to 

 buy bone manure for these crops ; as you will perceive it failed 

 entirely to start the corn earlier and- more vigorously than it 

 would have done without its aid, and I failed to discover that it 

 was at all beneficial in promoting its later growth, as it did not 

 seem to make much progress till the roots reached the sward 

 and manure which was turned under, when that which had 

 survived the difficulty of living through the first one or two 

 months without support, started into a vigorous growth and 

 produced a very fair crop, though too late to ripen so perfectly 

 as is desirable. I think, judging from that portion of the field 

 to which ashes was applied, that, if applied to the whole, it 

 would have increased the product at least fifteen bushels to the 

 acre. 



What benefit the land may derive from the bone hereafter, I 

 cannot, of course, predict ; but think I can safely say that 

 farmers, in these times of low prices for produce and high rates 

 for manure and labor, cannot afford to wait many years for a 

 favorable result ; and very few failing to perceive such result 

 from the application of a costly manure one season, could be 

 induced to apply the same the, next. 



Statement of Francis P. Putnam. 

 Last April I purchased 500 pounds of Day's bone meal, for 

 $20, beside freight. I was told it was much cheaper than 

 stable manure, to say nothing of the labor saved in carting. 

 Thought best to try it in different ways to see if it was equal to 

 what Mr. Day and friends recommended. The first piece to 

 which it was applied was sandy loam sward land, ploughed in 

 the fall of 1865 ; a coat of about five cords of compost manure 

 to the acre spread on the surface and well worked in with 

 harrow and cultivator ; then furrowed three and one-half feet 

 apart one way, one gill of bone meal put in the hills ; two and 



