1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



845 



value of that mntcrial better than wcdo, or instead 

 of sendiniT it abroad, we should use it in liilteninii: 

 beef at home. The exportaiiori of oil cake we do 

 not, iiowcver, consider so suicidal to the interest of 

 theliirmers as that of bones; of which, witiiin a(ew 

 years past, very Jartre quantities have been collect- 

 ed in the vicinity of the principal cities and sent 

 abroad. This is directly robbing ourselves, by 

 deprivinfT us of the means of communicating 

 and perpetuating ttirtdity to the soil. The bed 

 made by the oil cake will not, it is probable, be 

 sent to this country lor sale, but (rom the example 

 of the past, it is very possible that the grain pro- 

 duced by the application of this bone dust may 

 be returned to our shores, when by its use here, 

 the same wheal would have been raised, and the 

 land at the same time permanently benefited. 

 Our farmers will do well to thirdi of these things. 



From the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. 

 ABUSES OF BONE-MANURE. 



The character of bone-dust as a trusty manure 

 for turnips, runs the risk of being dejireciated by 

 the injudicious manner in which that manure is 

 sometimes applied to the soil. It is ibund, in sin- 

 gling the turnip crop, that the bone-dust is liable to 

 be brought up to the surface of the ground by the 

 root-fibres of the ejected plants. From this cir- 

 cumstance, it is conceived, that a stratum of earth 

 betwixt the bone-dust and the turnip seed would 

 prevent the recurrence of the evil ; and according- 

 ly, to ert'ect this purpose, the bone-dust, in some 

 instances, is either dropped into the drill by the 

 hand, covered up by the plough, and the turnip- 

 seed sown in the drill by the common turnip sow- 

 ing-machine, as in the case of farm-j'ard manure ; 

 or the bone-dust is first sown by one machine, and 

 then the turnip-seed by another, immediately or 

 shortly afterwards. These plans are practised 

 in the borders of England, and Scotland, a part 

 of the country which is occupied by farmers, 

 whose common sense, independently of their ag- 

 ricultural skill, might have warned them against 

 their dangerous consequences. Such a practice 

 could only have originated from giving no heed 

 to the nature of bone-dust, and the growth of the 

 turnip plants towards maturity. 



[t is clear, that if a stratum o( earth intervenes 

 betwixt the manure and the turnip-seed, a quick 

 braird of the turnip plant cannot be insured. It 

 was the slow brairdmg of that plant which formed 

 the ground- work of the universal complaint against 

 farm-yard manure, however well prepared, for 

 raising turnips, on dry soil in a dry season, and 

 especially on strong land in a dry season ; and the 

 great recommendation given with bone-dust, was 

 that of its insuring the early braird of the turnip- 

 plant in all seasons. The complaint now, under 

 the practice above described and condemned, is, 

 that bone-dust does not insure an early braird of 

 turnip in strong land ; but. so long as the practice 

 of placing earth betwixt the man^ire and the seed 

 is followed, a quick braird ought not to be expect- 

 ed. Contact with manure will cause turnip-seed 

 to vegetate in a short time. Could the seed have 

 been placed in contact with farm-yard manure as 

 easily as with bone-dust, the latter would never 

 have acquired the fame it has as a turnip manure. 



Vol.. VI.— 44 



The firmness with which the roots of the turnip 

 grasp the manure, shows the great capacity for ma- 

 nure which they possess in the early stage of their 

 irrowth. It is this tenacity for manure of the root- 

 fibres wiiich raises so much of the bone-dust to the 

 surftice of the ground, by adhering to the roofs of 

 the ejected plants; and whenever turnip seed vege- 

 tates in contact with fiirm-yard manure, the same 

 inconvenience resulls. In the case of dung being 

 brought to the surliice, if there becomes wasted, but 

 in the case of bone-dust, the resurrection of the 

 bones not in contact with the growing plants, is of 

 no consequence, because, while exposed to the air, 

 the bones lose none of their fertilizing properties ; 

 and none of them which are brought up escape be- 

 ing again covered by the subsequent operations of 

 hoeing, scuffling, and earlhing-up. Although the 

 bone-dust should be scattered between the drills, if 

 it is at all under the surface of the ground, the long 

 and tender fibres from the turnip-plant, which 

 extend a considerable distance around every plant, 

 will eventually derive benefit from if. But even 

 should any of the bone-dust be left exposed to the 

 air, on the s jrface of the ground, after all the ope- 

 rations are completed, it is much better to suffer 

 that loss, than run the risk of losing the whole 

 crop by improperly checking the braird. Eventu- 

 ally the bone-dust cannot be lost, for whenever, 

 by any means, by ploughing, by tramping of sheep, 

 it is pushed into the soil, it immediately imparts its 

 properties to the soil. The increasing scarcity of 

 bones, and the consequent advance in price of 

 bone-dust, from 2s. 6d. to at least 3s. if not 3s. 6d. 

 per bushel, and which difference of price, small 

 as it may appear, constitutes a considerable addi- 

 tional expense in the turnip-crop on a large farm, 

 has no doubt suggested the adoption of tliis per- 

 nicious practice ; but although economy in the 

 use of bone-dust is a laudable endeavour, it should 

 never be attempted at the risk of the well-being of 

 the crop. Bone-dust may be economically used 

 by mixing it with ashes, whether derived from the 

 combustion of coals or peat ; or where farm-yard 

 manure is abundant on any flirm, let some of it be 

 spread in the drills in the usual form, and the seed 

 afterwards sown along with bone-dust on the tops 

 of the drills. In this case, the manure need not 

 be much prepared, as it will have time to ferment 

 in the ground before becoming useful to the turnip- 

 crop, while one-half of the usual quantity of the 

 bone-dust, nampl\", one-quarter per imperial acre 

 will suffice for the brairding of the plant and its 

 nurture, until it finally depends for support upon 

 the manure. 



On considering the cfTects of bone-dust on land, 

 it is not improbable that the experience of j'ears 

 may prove the abatement of its efficacy as a ma- 

 nure, after repetition of its application on the same 

 ground. Tfiis appears to be the opinion of the 

 Duke of Portland, fis expressed in a communica- 

 tion by the duke himself, in Bell's Weekly Mes- 

 senger of 23d April, 1838. As we know that 

 his grace is an accurate observer of the operations 

 of the field, his statement is worthy of an atten- 

 tive perusal. 



"In 18.34, fwo fields of sand-land adjacent to 

 Clumber Park," says his irrace," the one at ricjht 

 angles to the other, each containinir about twenty 

 acres, were sown with seeds among barley. When- 

 ever these fields had been sown with turnips for 

 twenty years before 1825, they had always been 



