44 THE CONNECTICUT AGRICULTUEAL 



by more or less loss of nitrogen, this loss is partly or perhaps 

 fully compensated by the greater friability, porosity, and more 

 ready decomposability of the boiled bone. The bones whose 

 grease is gone, absorb water more readily, and therefore enter 

 into putrefactive decay more quickly and feed vegetation more 

 promptly than fresh raw bones. If grease in ground bone is too 

 much relied on as a test of good quality, probably no long time 

 will transpire before " pure bone " that has been boiled and 

 possibly mixed with plaster and crushed oyster shells, will be 

 greased in order to give it the semblance of genuineness. 



Bones, slightly boiled to extract grease, probably are not 

 injured for fertilizing use. Bones from which much gelatine has 

 been removed are reduced in commercial value, but are still an 

 excellent fertilizer when they are to be had at a fair price. 



The first four articles in the table are perhaps not quite so much 

 better than those below them as tlie valuation would indicate. 

 In the bone saw dust which is prepared under water and dried for 

 market, there is liable to be a large and variable quantity of mois- 

 ture. The bone saw dust, turning chips and ivory dust, are all 

 made from the most dense and close textured material, and for 

 that reason would be slower in action than average bone of equal 

 fineness. 



On the whole, leaving out of consideration both of the excep- 

 tional extremes, the cost and estimated values of the bone manures 

 agree as well as could be reasonably expected. 



