166 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 3 



land commonly precedes wheat. The effect on 

 their turnip crop is very greal; causing; lands to 

 produce a crop, which had been comparatively 

 barren; forwarding the crop several days in ad- 

 vance of that manured with stable manure; and 

 <!;reatly increasinji the product. The ell'ects have 

 been most beneficial upon all the succeedino; crops 

 of grain and grass. Few decisive experiments 

 have been made as yet in this country; but in one 

 case the last season, where applied to ruta baga 

 growing side hy side with a crop manured by sta- 

 ble manure. 25 bushels of bones produced a much 

 better crop than a heavy dressing of barn dung. 



They have been used with signal advantage 

 spread upon grass land; the feed being greatly 

 improved, and the return fi'om the stock fed upon 

 it, in milk and butter through the season, very 

 much increased. 



Their effects upon the cultivation of wheat, in 

 Great Britain, have been thus stated after careful 

 observation, compared with best stable manure. 

 " In respect to the quality of the grain, as 7 to 5. 

 In respect to the quantity, as 5 to 4. 



In respect to the durability of its effects on 



the soil, as 3 to 2." 



In these cases, likewise, are to be taken into 

 consideration the difference in the cost of the two 

 applications; the lightness of transportation of 

 bone manure; and the ease of applying it to the 

 soil. 



Of its application to Indian corn no experiments 

 have come within my knowledge; but its advan- 

 tages cannot be questioned. 



As to the form in which it is to be applied to 

 the land, it has been tried in the form of broken 

 dust; of pieces crushed to the average length of 

 half an inch; and of larger pieces. If to be 

 spread broad-cast upon grass land, it should be 

 fine; and in all cases the more finely it is reduced 

 the more immediate are its effects. In long pieces 

 their application is not convenient nor efficient. 

 In the mill at Roxbury, near Boston, they are 

 crushed in small pieces, and at the same time in 

 the process much comes out in the form of fine 

 dust. This is undoubtedly the best form in which 

 they can be furnished; the fine dust supplies the 

 vegetable pabulum for immediate use; and the 

 pieces being longer and gradual in their decompo- 

 sition effect a permanent improvement of the soil. 

 To the turnip crop rhey are applied in the drill 

 with the seed; and in their application to Indian 

 corn it might be advisable to deposite them in the 

 hill. 



They are sometimes applied singly or mixed 

 with dung or mould. To be thus mixed is deeiri- 

 ed the best mode of applying them, and in this 

 case the dung should be decomposed and fine. A 

 compost is formed of bone dust and barn-yard 

 scrapings and muck in the followino; proportions: 



From 50 bushels of bone to 4 or 5 of dunu. 

 " 20 do. to 4 do. " 



" 12 do. to 8 do. 



The proportions, however, must be matter of 

 judgment and experiment with the cultivator. 



It is deemed important, in the next place, that 

 the bones should have acquired a degree of heat 

 by being laid in a heap belbre application to the 

 soil. They will soon ferment laid in a heap and 

 mixed with earth or dung are in a condition to be 

 used. It is deemed well if this preparation of 

 them can be made a month before they are to be , 

 applied. 



Of the quantity to be applied no certain rule 

 can be given. From 16 to 80 and 100 bushels 

 have been applied: 25 bushels of fine bone dust, 

 or 40 bushels of crushed bones, pieces and dust to- 

 gether, are considered proper proportions for an 

 •acre. Persons have found that a larger applica- 

 tion than this has not been attended with corres- 

 ponding advantages: indeed that 25 bushels have 

 been as efficient as 80. As it respects the perma- 

 nent improvement of the land there is no doubt 

 that the larger quantity would be in proportion 

 efficient; but as to immediate effects no advantage 

 is to be expected from an excessive application; 

 as a small application will probably furnish all of' 

 that kind of food or stimulant, which the plant or 

 a single crop will take up. Eight bushels of bone 

 dust mixed with eight bushels of coal ashes, are 

 represented in one experiment as efficient as the 

 whole amount of bone dust. This was, however, 

 only a single experiment; and the permanence of 

 the efiecis had not been tested. I mention this 

 mode, not so much from confidence in its success 

 as in the hopes of producing experiments, which 

 may prove instructive and useful. 



Of the kind of soil to which bone manure is 

 best suited, some matters are well determined. 

 On wet and heavy soils it will not answer. On 

 clayey soils it is stated to have proved positively 

 injurious. On light, dry and sandy soils it has 

 proved iTiost efficacious. It is indispensable to ob- 

 taining their benefits, that the land should be dry. 

 Lands deficient in lime are much more benefited 

 by its use than lands abounding in lime. This 

 was to be expected, as a combination of lime 

 forms a considerable part of their substance. On 

 peat soils, when thoroughly drained, its efficacy is 

 very great; and, mixed with sandy mould, per- 

 haps no application could be better for peat soils, 

 when laid entirely dry. 



The bone dust, which is to be obtained, is that 

 from bones which have passed through the soap- 

 boiler's hands. This deprives them undoubtedly 

 of some portion of their gelatinous or oily proper- 

 ties, and renders them less valuable than if they 

 could be broken and applied in an uncooked state ; 

 but the ellcct of this operation is not like that of' 

 calcining to deprive them oi' all the soft and oily 

 matter; a orcat deal remains, and experiment has 

 proved lliiU their efficiency is diminished in a much 

 less degree than would be supposed. 



This IS the best and most authentic information 

 that I have been able to collect on the subject. 

 My own expcrmients with them have been on a 

 small scale; but accidental circumstances prevent- 

 ed my giving them a fiiir test. I have great con- 

 fidence in their utility; and their portable charac- 

 ter must strongly recommend them. They may 

 be sent by railroad and water conveyances into 

 the interior in many cases at aliTiost as small an 

 expense as the manure in some places can be car- 

 ried iioni the barn into the fields. If they fulfil 

 what they promise, the market gardeners in the 

 neighborhood of the city must find them invalu- 

 abl5. 



From what has been here stated we may draw 

 these conclusions : 



1. Bones constitute a most valuable manure. 



2. The soils to which they are most usefijlly 

 applied are sandy and light soils; and the land 

 must be dry. On heavy loams and clays they are 

 not useful. To peat lands completely drained 

 they may be applied with advantage. 



