106 PEACTICAL FARM CHEMISTRY. 



it immediately soluble, however, it will still have to 

 be treated with sulphuric acid, and we then get the 

 ' ' dissolved bone-black." 



Great quantities of bones are always accumulating 

 in the course of a season on every farm — heads and 

 feet of slaughtered animals, bones from the kitchen, 

 etc., all of which are usually delivered to poultry, 

 dogs and cats to pick over, and then allowed to re- 

 main lying about on the premises where left by the 

 animals. These bones, as already stated, are valu- 

 able fertilizing material, containing, besides three 

 or four per cent of nitrogen, nearly one quarter 

 their own weight in phosphoric acid. Their fertili- 

 zing value, therefore, is not Jfar from one and one 

 half cents per pound, and[would be still considerably 

 larger if all these plant foods were immediately 

 available. Certainly, they are so valuable that we 

 cannot afford to ignore this source of fertilizer, or 

 allow them to remain scattered all over the premises, 

 an eyesore to owner and visitor in their present con 

 dition, when they could be made to serve a good 

 purpose. Bones can also sometimes be bought up 

 in the neighborhood at a fraction of their real value. 

 The great problem, however, is, how can these 

 bones be got in proper shape for feeding our crops? 



A paragraph familiar to every careful reader of 

 agricultural papers runs about as follows: ''Bury a 

 lot of bones (or a dead animal), and set a grape vine 

 or a fruit tree right on top of them." This is an 

 excellent precept, good in cases where only a few 

 bones are on hand and people do not wish to bother 

 -with them otherwise. In due course of time — if it 

 should take ten or twenty years — the tree or grape 

 vine will find all the plant food that is in the buried 

 bones, and will make good use of it. 



