16 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



appears to have been selected for this purpose, as forming much hardei 

 compounds with animal membrane than the carbonate, which is used 

 in the composition of shells. The harder and more solid the bone, 

 the greater the proportion of the phosphate : thus the bony portions 

 of the ear are very hard, and they consist almost wholly of the phos- 

 phate. The long part of the teeth contains considerable carbonate, 

 but the enamel, or cutting parts, which sometimes approaches to the 

 hardness of steel, is nearly pure phosphate. The composition of bone 

 can be determined by fire, or more accurately by acids ; and they are 

 found to consist of phosphate of lime, a small quantity of carbonate 

 lime, the whole cemented together by a strong, elastic animal mem- 

 brane, to which is added oil, of which the principal depository is the 

 interior of the bone. 



The use of bone dust, or bones reduced to powder by grinding, has 

 introduced a new era in agriculture in some parts of the world. 

 Crushed bones were first extensively introduced as a manure in the 

 counties of Lincoln and York about the beginning of the present cen- 

 tury, and they are now considered the best and most efficacious appli- 

 cation that can be made to the soil. It has been estimated that by 

 extending the growth of the turnip crop to districts where it was not 

 before grown, and thus increasing the means of raising cattle and 

 sheep, and through these, indirectly, the culture of wheat and barley, 

 the means of subsistence in England has been increased one-fifth. 

 The experience of farmers who have used this manure, shows that it 

 succeeds best on light, dry, calcareous loams, or in general on any 

 soils that are dry, and do not contain too much alumine. 



The finer the dust, the more rapid is the action, while as a matter 

 of course, that which is not so fine, is the most durable in its effects. 

 Twelve bushels per acre drilled in, is the usual allowance, but it is 

 sometimes sown broadcast, and the quantity varied from ten to twenty 

 bushels an acre. Where lands are much impoverished, thirty bush- 

 els an acre have been used with success. In our own country the use 

 of bone dust, as a manure, is annually increasing, especially in the 

 neighborhood of large cities, where bones are easily collected, and 

 where mills for reducing them to powder have been constructed. 



BOTS. A species of small worms found in the intestines of the 

 horse, is called by this name. A fly deposits its eggs on the knees of 

 the animal, which are sometimes bitten ofF, and then carried to the 

 stomach, where they are hatched. The young bots adhere to the 

 stomach by little hooks, arid are nourished by the mucus of the stomach, 

 or the food it contains, until the next spring, or the first of the sum- 

 mer, when, having attained full size in the larvae state, they drop their 

 hold, and are usually carried along with the contents of the stomach, 

 and are voided. They then burrow in the ground, and remain a few 

 weeks in the chrysalis state, when they undergo a more important 

 transformation, and become flies, or perfect insects, pursuing the course 



