230 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



luable experiments on bone manure, I was re- 

 minded of an idea f have olien thought oT, viz. : If 

 some easy plan of (iecomposinij Irenes without 

 grinding could be adopted, so that every farmer 

 could have the advanlaoe of usuig all ihe bones 

 he may collect about his own house and neigh- 

 borhood, a great many bones that are now useless 

 might be collected and become a very valuable 

 soiirce lor manure Now, Mr Editor, in hopes 

 some of your intelligent correspondents will give 

 what information they can on the subject, I will 

 give you what I Ixnow accidentally. My wife puts 

 ail her refuse bones into her ashes, thmkins they 

 may be of some use to her soap ; she makes her 

 soap every spring, and sometimes lets her leach 

 stand six or eight months. On removing the 

 ashes I have found nearly all the bones decom- 

 posed, or become, in appearance, like a white 



jelly- 

 In a report of the agriculture of the house of 

 Industry at S. Boston, published in the Farm'er 

 of May 20th, 1840, it is stated, tliat mixing bone 

 manure with earth as follows, one part bone and 

 two parts earth, laid in a heap and moistened 

 with cow-yard wash or water, and turned over 

 often, the bones will become compleieiy decom- 

 posed in about two months. 



A Mechanic. 



both towards the hill and towards the declivity ; 

 but on both sides it still preserves its branches 

 parallel to the surface. As there is an attraction 

 between the upper surface of leaves and light, I 

 am also persuaded, though not equally certain of 

 it from experiment, that there is an attraction of 

 the same nature between the under surlijce of 

 leaves and the surface of the earth. This I con- 

 sider the true cause of the phenomenon ; — I had 

 long observed that the most fruitful orchards and 

 most fertile trees are those planted on a declivity, 

 and the sleeper it is, though not quite a precipice, 

 the more fertile they prove. It is well known that 

 the spreading of trees always renders them fruit- 

 fid. On a plain they incline to shoot upwards ; 

 and therefore art is employed by skilful gardeners, 

 and applied in various ways, to check their per- 

 pendicular, and to promote their lateral growth. 

 But this point is obtained on a declivity by nature. 

 There a tree loses its tendency to shoot upwards, 

 and in order to preserve its branches parallel with 

 the surface, is constrained to put them in a lateral 

 direction. Hence an important rule in the choice 

 of orchards and fruit gardens. 



D. J. Walker. 



SOOT AS MANURBv 



From tlie Farmers' Journal. 



Sir Humphrey Davy characterizes soot as " a 

 powerful manure, possessing ammoniacal salt, 

 empyreumatic oil, and charcoal, which is capable 

 of being rendered soluble by the action ol'oxygen, 

 or pure vital air; all which component parts rank 

 high as nutritious orstimulant manures." On mea- 

 dows (says an agriculturist) I have used soot with 

 great advantage in substance, and, though sown by 

 the hand, one dressing gave me always heavy crops 

 of hay tor two successive seasons ; but this is a 

 wasteful mode of applying it, a great proportion of 

 its ammonia, one of its most active inixredients, be- 

 ing volatilized and dissipated in the atmosphere. 

 When dissolved in water there is no waste; it is 

 all available; and, for horticultural purposes. I 

 have mostly used it in that state, mixing it up in 

 the proportion of about six quarts of soot to a 

 hogshead of water. Asparagus, peas, and a 

 variety of other vegetables, I have manured with 

 it, with as much etl'ect as if I had used solid dung ; 

 but to plants in pots, particularly pines, I have 

 found it admirably well adapted ; when watered 

 ' with itj they assume a deep healthy green and grow 

 strong and luxuriant. I generally use it and clean 

 water alternately, and always over head in sum- 

 mer ; but, except for the purpose of cleansing, it 

 might be used constantly with advantage. 



DOGS*. 



ADVANTAGE OF PLANTING FRUIT TREES ON 

 DECLIVITIES. 



From the Farmers' Journal. 



Dodart first observed that trees pushed their 

 branches in a direction parallel to the surface of 

 the earth. If a tree stands on a sleep it pushes 



From the Edinburgh Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. 



We are glad that the interesting subject of the 

 natural history of dogs has been taken up by an 

 individual so vviell qualified to handle it as Colo- 

 nel Hamilton Smith. There is scarcely any 

 other naturalist in Britain who has devoted so 

 much attention to certain tribes of quadrupeds, 

 particularly those more directly subservient to 

 the interests of the human race. During his 

 travels in many did'erenl quarters of the globe, be 

 has availed himself of every opportunity of col- 

 lecting information, and making drawings of rare 

 species, whether found in a state of nature or 

 preserved in museums. The collection of zoolo- 

 gical drawings thus accumulated, is, we believe, 

 one of the most extensive in the country; and 

 the portion of them relating to the Canidte (the 

 dog and its allied species) has afforded the mate- 

 rials for the present volumes. 



Colonel H. Smith enters at some length intO' 

 the discussion of the difficult question relating 

 to the origin of our domestic dogs ; and comes 

 to a somewhat different conclusion from many 

 recent writers on the subject. It is well known 

 that very different opinions have long been held 

 by naturalists on this point. Linnaeus included 

 the whole of ihe domesticated kinds under the 

 name of Canis familiaris; BuflTon viewed the 

 shepherd's dog as the original species from which 

 all the oinere had sprung ; Cuvier, in his Hegne 

 Animal, regards thq species as distinct, remark- 

 ing, at the same time, that the " taming of the 

 dog is the most complete, the most useful, and 

 the most singular conquest man has achieved, the 

 whole species having become our property." A 

 wild dog, named the Buansu ( Canis primcBvus,') 

 inhabiting the central region of the old world, 

 whence many of our most ancient elements of 



* Natural Historv of Dogs. By Lt. Col. Charles 

 Hamilton Smith ; forming the 25th and 26th vols, of 

 the Naturalist's Library. 



