THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



427 



"BONE SHAVINGS. 



" Bone shavings are produced in button-works, 

 manufactories of knife-handles, &c., &c. Being 

 the turnings of hard hones they contain rather 

 more phosphate of Hme and a little less organic 

 matter or nitrogen than ordinary bone-dust. 



Composition of Bone Shavinf/s. 



Moisture .. 13-12 



♦Organic matters .. .. .. .. 26' 12 



Phosphates of lime and magnesia. . .. 53'7-i 



Carbonate of hme 5-39 



Alkaline salts . . , . . . . . "78 



Sand.. .. ,, .. .. .. 'SS 



10000 

 •Containing nitrogen . , . . . . 3'28 



Equal to ammonia . . . . . . . . 3'98 



" Purchasers of this valuable refuse should be on 

 their guard, for it is frequently mixed with vege- 

 table ivory — a substance which has no appreciable 

 value as a manure, and which resembles so closely 

 bone shavings that the admixture cannot be re- 

 cognised by simple inspection." 



The next variety of bones now extensively used 

 in the manufacture of superphosphate of hme is, 

 firstly, the white burnt bones, or bone-ash, of 

 South America; and secondly, the used-up black 

 bone- ash, or bone-charcoal, employed by the 

 sugar-refiners. Of these the Professor observes 

 {ibid, p. 378) : 



" The animal charcoal, or bone-black, which is 

 used by sugar-boilers for decolourizing crude 

 sugar, is far too valuable a material to be used for 

 agricultural purposes. When it has served for 

 some considerable time as a decolourizing agent, 

 it loses its effect, and then is revivified by heating 

 in cylinders. This revivifying process is repeated 

 many times, until most of the carbon in the black 

 is burned off: it is then sold to manure-manufac- 

 turers as a refuse material, under the name of 

 animal charcoal. Like all refuse materials, its 

 composition varies greatly. Some samples are 

 very rich in phosphates, others poor. The amount 

 of sand is usually very small ; in some samples I 

 have found a large proportion of carbonate of 

 lime." 



Of this bone-black, and of the South American 

 bone-ash, the following are selected from a variety 

 of analyses : 



Bone-black, Bone-ash. 

 Moisture and organic matter 30.26 16.37 



Phosphates of lime, and 



magnesia 60.75 64.44 



Carbonate of lime, &c 5.96 9.13 



Insoluble siliceous matter. . 3.03 10.06 



100. 100. 



The mineral or fossil phosphates used in the 

 manufacture in such large quantities are the co- 

 prolites of the East of England, and the native 

 phosphates of lime of Norway, Spain, and 

 Northern America. Of the coprolites, we have 

 those from the Suffolk Crag and those from Cam- 

 bridgeshire, being the nodules obtained in that and 

 other localities from the Lower Chalk. The ge- 

 neral composition of these is as follows : 



Cambridge- Suffolk, 

 shire. 



Moisture and organic matter 3.11 4.61 



Phosphates 62.32 56.52 



Carbonates, &c., &c 28.42 25.95 



Siliceous matter .... 6.15 12.92 



The apatite— a mineral phosphate — is largely 

 imported into this country from Krageroe, in 

 Norway. A recently-analyzed specimen was found 

 by Dr. Voelcker to contain : 



Moisture (driven off at 212 deg. F.). , '24 



Water of combination "66 



Lime 45'12 



*Chloride of calcium 2"53 



Magnesia '74 



Oxide of iron 1'29 



Alumina 1'53 



Potash .0 -36 



Sulphuric acid '29 



fPhosphoric acid 35'69 



Insoluble siliceous matter 1 1'62 



100-07 



'^Containing chlorine 1*62 



tEqual to tribasic phosphate of lime . . 77*33 

 The following is the composition of a specimen 

 of the mineral phosphorite, from Spanish Estre- 

 madura : 

 Moisture and water of combination .... "68 



Lime 42'68 



♦Phosphoric acid » , 36"36 



Oxide of iron, alumina J determined by "I „ 



magnesia, & fluorine L difference j 

 Insoluble siUceous matter 11*47 



lOO'OO 

 *Equal to tribasic phosphate of lime (bone- 

 earth) 78-79 



Of the action of the mineral phosphates on the 

 growth of turnips, when applied merely reduced to 

 a powder, or previously dissolved by a mineral 

 acid, we have not at present a very useful know- 

 ledge. Some small experiments of Dr. Daubeny, 

 made at Oxford {Jour. Roy. Ag. Soc, vol, vi., p. 

 329), seemed to prove that the apatite or phos- 

 phorite possesses considerable claims to the far- 

 mer's attention as a manure for roots. Some 

 recent Irish experiments, carried on by Mr. Bald- 

 win, at Glasnevin, in the season of 1859-60, tend 

 to the same conclusion ; so that it will be very 

 desirable if my readers, on at least a small scale, 

 repeat these very important experiments. In the 

 Glasnevin trials {Afjri. Gazette, 1861, p. 437) the 

 farmyard manure was applied at the rate of 30 

 tons per statute acre — the artificial dressings at 

 the uniform rate of three pounds per acre. The 

 Peruvian guano cost £l3 5s., the ground bones 

 £8, the finely-ground coprohtes £4 per ton. The 

 produce of swede turnips per acre from the land 

 thus manured was as follows : — 



From Farmyard manure 18 tons 15 cwts. 



Peruvian guano 12 10 



Dissolved coprolites. ., . 14 10 



Ground bones 10 10 



Dissolved bones 11 5 



Ground coprolites 14 5 



