FARiHJ^RS' REGISTER— BONE MANURE. 



563 



els haulfd a distance of twelve miles for ma- l 

 nure. For frround bones 1 paid at first ten cents 

 per hca[)e(l liushel; and for the voufrh large knuck- 

 les and refuse, five cents per bushel; allcrvvards 

 nine and twelve cents per bushel. They are now 

 higher li-om an increased demand. The practical 

 cliemists also employ them to form ivory black, 

 and 1 believe, ammonia. 



Before the manufacturers receive the bones, 

 they are usually boiled to obtain their oil. This 

 is employed to oil leather, grease cart wheels, and 

 to form s"oap. A very fat Englishman was one 

 of the first to introduce this process. He induced 

 the butchers' boys to collect all the bones, instead 

 of throwing them into the street; and every mar- 

 ket day he hauled then) away in a cart to his 

 place of deposite. The first operation was per- 

 formed by pigs — who ate any meat or fat adheruig 

 to the bones. They were then boiled and assorted 

 — the perfect, large bones, being sold, to the va- 

 rious manufacturers; and the rest to the chemists 

 for ivory black, or to farmers for manure. As 

 this man's business increased, his neighbors began 

 to complain of the ill odor of his premises — and 

 finding him insensible to their remonstrances, he 

 w«as indicted for a nuisance, and his establishment 

 declared prejudicial to the public health. Being 

 himself, and also his wife and children, remarka- 

 bly stout, ruddy, and well conditioned — although . . 

 sleeping, eating, and living in the midst of a very | they contain so large a quantity of hme, and are 



The method of applying the bones to land, is 

 not much varied — sometimes they are cast abroad 

 before the land is ploughed — occasionally the 

 ground is ploughed and rolled and the bones 

 spread upon it, and ploughed in. Great care is 

 essential in spreading, to divide and scatter this 

 manure equally. An undue proportion in one spot 

 will cause the grain to fidl. Where the bonea 

 have been placed in heaj;p, the earth should be 

 shovelled up closely and well P|;read- — or the straw 

 will be too rank, and fall wUhout yielding grain. 

 The button manufiicturer, of whom I have written 

 above, moved to New York, where he thought 

 there was a more abundant supply of bones, 

 through the canals from the west; for they are 

 now a regular article of traffic — and this manu- 

 facture adds an item ol' profit to those who barrel 

 beef and raise cattle. The large bones, if left 

 under ground a few years when the land is in 

 grass, will be found gradually to loosen, and dis- 

 unite at their sutures — after vegetation has con- 

 sumed the tatty particles, the periosteum or mem- 

 brane covering the outside of the bone, and the 

 membranes linmg all the private cavities, disap- 

 pear. The earthy particles remain united, but 

 are constantly yielding to the action of decompo- 

 sition, and mechanical divisions. 



Bone dust, or roughly broken bones, form an 

 excellent application for gardens. But although 



ofiensive atmosphere, from animal decomposition 

 — he was shrewdly advised by his lawyer, to 

 make no other defence, than by arraying his fam- 

 ily opposite the jury, and coolly appealing to their 

 good sense, to declare him guiltless — which they 

 did: but he wisely moved further out of town, to 

 avoid giving further offence in the same neighbor- 

 hood. This man often made contracts with the 



immediate in their operation, they do not interdict 

 the use of other manures, or of lime. I'hc inter- 

 mingling of a variety of substances, appears to af- 

 ford the most acceptable sustenance to vegetables. 

 The spontaneous growth of whhe clover is very 

 much assisted, and its size and vigor increased, 

 by the apjilication of bones: and I think the 

 amount of potatoes on a field in which only a part 



manufacturers he supplied with whole bones, to was boned, (the whole having been otherwise ma- 



take the refuse ; which he sold to the farmers 

 , mixed with the oflal of his own establishment. 

 fie has made a small fortune, and retired to a 

 farm well manured with bones. 



The ground bones are applied to wheat, rye, 

 barley, potatoes, buckwheat, and grass crops, with 

 great advantage — but I do not think they bene- 

 fit Indian corn as much, in proportion, as the 

 others. White clover, Swedish and other turnips, 

 and millet, are very luxuriant after the use of 

 bones. The coarse large bones are scattered 

 about without being broken, and ploughed under 

 the ground. They are sometimes inconvenient, 

 but I think equally active as the ground bones, if 

 not more so, as they generally contain more fatty 

 or oily matter. Dunng the growth of a crop, the 

 fibres of the plants will be ibund filling every cre- 

 vice of the bone, a.s if eagerly seeking the most 

 desirable nourishment. I have applied 150 bush- 

 els per acre, which I think too much; from 60 

 to 100 bushels, I believe the proper medium. 

 Their effects are said to last a great number of 

 years — and they certainly combine within them- 

 selves, the most valuable projierties. In the ufiper 

 part of the county of Philadelphia, not far from 

 the Delaware, bone manure is very highly re- 



frarded, well known, and much sought after. The 

 arge bones about a farm are, by one very careful 

 farmer I know, gathered together and broken up 

 of rainy days, or at odd times; forming within a 

 year, an important addition to the amount of ma- 

 nure. 



nured) was fully two-thirds more on the part 

 boned, all other things being alike^ than on that 

 portion where there were no bones. 



There are always lying about farms, valleys, 

 towns, and water courses, a number of bones of 

 different kinds, which are unsightly, noisome, and 

 useless in their abandoned condition, and which 

 would be well worth the attention of some of your 

 active farmers. The gathering of them would be 

 found much more profitable than many may con- 

 ceive, who have never witnessed the results of 

 their judicious application to the land. 



I write you this desultory account, without any 

 notes to assist my memory, and beg you to re- 

 ceive the hasty sketch, as an offering of my good 

 intention. After viewing many of the marl de- 

 posites along the shores of James River, and seeing 

 the results of animal matter connected with them, 

 I am inclined to believe you have near your doors, 

 substances which will be found to ap]}roach in 

 efficacy, the effects of the manure I have given 

 you an account of. 



J. H. GIBBOX. 



P. S. The most prompt growth I ever saw, 

 was a hedge manured by laying cows' horns, 

 horses' heads, pigs' jowls, and other uncouth 

 bones, in a furrow oiiened by the plough, and 

 covered in by the same process. Upon this line 

 the hedcre was planted, and grew rapidly and 

 healthfully. 



I fororot to notice some other manufactures 



