218 WALL'S MANUAL 



from the fact that sulphuric acid is formed from 

 it, thus : 1 comb. wt. sulphur = 16x3 comb. wts. 

 oxygen 24 = 40 sulphuric acid. Sulphuric acid 

 unites with lime, forming the sulphate of lime or 

 plaster, it also unites with other bases, forming sul- 

 phates, and it is used to dissolve bones, forming the 

 "superphosphate of lime" 



"PHOSPHORUS." 



Of all the substances which the farmer has to take 

 under consideration, we think phosphorus the most 

 important. It is found in all animals and vegetables ; 

 without it, neither the one nor the other could live. 

 It is also diffused widely, and is discovered in combi- 

 nation with oxygen, in all rocks, in all soils, in all 

 plants, and in the flesh and bones of fish, reptiles, 

 insects, animals, and in their secretions. It is found 

 in nature, combined with many other substances, 

 forming phosphates ; thus, we have the phosphate of 

 lime, of magnesia, of iron, etc. But it is in the 

 phosphates and phosphoric acid, that the farmer is 

 most interested. 



The use of "bones" in agriculture, has been long 

 and widely adopted in England, and in other countries 

 in Europe, and for some years they have been 

 extensively used in the United States. From 300,000 

 to 400,000 tons of bones are imported into Great 

 Britain, and used by the English farmers every year. 

 The chief source from which this vast quantity of 

 bones is obtained, is from the plains of South America, 

 where great herds of wild cattle are annually 

 slaughtered for their hides, tallow and bones. 



"Bones" are the most available source from which 



