TRIALS OF SULPHURIC ACID AND BONES FOR TURNIPS. 



BY R. W. PURCHAS.— 1845. 



T. cwt. lbs 



FIELD Ko. 1. — Soil, eandy loam upon old 

 red sandstone, so completely worn out 

 by the late tenant that a part without 

 any manure, lying between the acre 

 with acid and bones and the acre with 

 dung, produced only, per acre 5 20 



One acre, manured with ICO bushels of 

 turf-ashes wetted with water 8 14 3^ 



One acre, manured with 160 bushels of 

 turf-ashes, 2 bushels of tine bone-dust, 

 ;md 80 lbs. of bromi acid (oil of vitriol), 

 costing 12s.; the bones and acid dissolved 

 and treated as below 14 5 68 



One acre, manured with 20 yards of dung. 14 11 68 



This field was limed with 108 bushels of lime per 

 acre iu 1842. 



FIELD No. 2. — Soil, stone brash upon old red sand- 

 stone, limed in 1841. T. cwt. lbs. 



One acre, manured with 15 bushels of coal- 

 ashes and 15 bushels of charcoal-dust, 

 drilled in with the seed, produced 4 8 64 



One acre, manured with 80 lbs. of brown 

 acid and 2 bushels of line bone-dust dis- 

 solved, mixed with 500 gallons of water, 

 and sprinkled witli a water cart over 

 the land before ridging up ; and 15 bush- 

 els of coal-ashes, and 15 bushels of char- 

 coal -dust, drilled in with the seed 12 11 48 



The Swedes (SkitTiug's) were p^ted on the ridge, 

 the first and second weeks in July, at 24 inches ; 

 the plants thinned to 9 inches ; horse and hand- 

 hoed three rimes. 



Pulled, topped, tailed, and weighed, 14th January, 

 1845. 



I had the brown sulphuric acid, .strength 

 1-750. at jd. per lb., from that highly re.-jpectablc 

 manufacturer, Mr. James Gibbs, Bristol ; and 

 the tine bone-du.st, of excellent <iuality, from 

 Messrs. H. and T. Proctor, Bristol, at 26s. per 

 quarter. 



The acid and bones for field No. 1 were treat- 

 ed as follows : — for 1 acre, an empty hogsliead of 

 about 100 gallons, with one head out, was used : 

 2 bushels (or 16 gallons) of bone-dust was put 

 into the cask or tub, then 80 lbs. (or about 4 J 

 gallons) of acid, the mass being well stirred ; to 

 this was added 24 gallons of boiUiif^ water; the 

 mixture being well stirred the whole time the 

 water was being put in, to keep down the vio- 

 lent ebullition that ensued. In a few minutes 

 the bone-dust was perfectly dissolved, and fit 

 for use. The mixture was then taken in the tub 

 into the field, put by the heap of turf-ashes, 

 which being very dry, about 500 gallons of water 

 were gradually added to the mixture, and 

 thrown over the ashes; which, being well 

 mixed, were then put into carts and distributed 

 with a shovel into the drills, the ground ridged 

 up, and immediately sown. 



I put in about 3 acres per day, using three old 

 hogsheads or tubs (worth about 5s. each ,) and, 

 when taken to the field, two lots were put to- 

 gether, the empty tub being used to mix the 

 proper quantity of water before throwing over 

 the ashes. 



A neighboring farmer had one carboy of acid 

 last year ; he used dried mud from a horse-pond 

 to mix with the acid and bones : and he is so 

 satisfied v^-ith the result that he has ordered 10 

 carboys of acid this year. My friend says the 

 acid and bones beat every other manure, (guano, 

 dung, &c. ;) and are the cheapest and best of all 

 manures for growing turnips. The soil, a poor 

 sand, was limed with 108 bushels per acre, im- 

 mediately before the mixture was put on. 



I am convinced that, without lime in the eoil, 

 acid and bones will not act ; this I witnessed in 

 a neighbor's field last year — the field six years 

 ago was part of a common, it was then broken 

 up, and part limed the following jear. Last 

 year the whole field ■was planted with turnips- 

 using 2 bushels of bone-du.st and 80 lbs. of acid 

 per acre ; put on as on my field No. 2 : the re- 

 sult was, the part limed produced a good crop 

 for the season, beating 15 loads of dung; but 

 the turnips on the part not limed, although com- 

 ing up well, very soon died away, and in less 

 than a month not a single plant was to be seen. 



In the field No. 2, the acid and bones were 

 treated as No. 1 ; when taken to the field iu a 

 -water-cask holding 250 gallons of \\-ater (twice 

 filled,) was used with half the quantitj' of mix- 

 ture, and sprinkled over the land before being 

 ridged up ; the ashes were then drilled in with 

 the .seed. 



His Grace the Duke of Richmond's plan of 

 running the mixture and wateralong the drills, 

 after ridging, is a much better [dan than the 

 above ; and which, for the future, I shall adopt 

 ^vheu using the mixture in a liquid state. 



In every trial of acid and bones the turnips 

 came into rough leaf a week before those plant- 

 ed the same day with other manures. 



rilitone, near Ch"pstow, Hay 21, 184.5. 



[Jour, of the Royal Agricul. Society of England. 



ON THE USE OF SULPHURIC ACID WITH 

 BONES AS COMPOST. 



BY P. DAVIS. 



With reference to Mr. Pusey's suggestion as 

 to the propriety of using bone-dust (dissolved in 

 sulphuric acid) along with compost instead of 

 water for turnips, I can confirm his idea from 

 practice, having last year manured 5 acres with 

 only 13 bushels of bone-du.st dissolved in 270 

 lbs. of sulphuric acid and 150 gallons of water. 

 After standing twenty-four hours, the liquid was 

 mixed with 3 cart-loails of coat-ashes, and left 

 to remain for a v^-eek, during which time it vvas 

 turned over two or three times. The mixture 

 wa-s then drilled along with the seed, and the 

 result was a fair crop of common turnips, oft' a 

 piece of poor land, without other manure, and 

 at the co.st of only 12s. 9d. per acre. 

 Milton Houst, near Penbridgf, \ 



J lib- 



Hcrefordsliire, April 25, 1845. 



