THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



617 



any improvement in the nioile of culture must be 

 ofextensive and immediate benefit. Experimenis 

 go numerous and so varied liave been made wiili 

 this view, that it may ahnost seem superfluous in 

 me now to make any ILirther suggestions on the 

 subject. But when experimenis have been made 

 with a view to one object only, it often happens in 

 all departments of natural science, that as new 

 views are advanced or more precise methods 

 pointed out, it becomes necessary to repeat all our 

 Ibrmer experiments— either for the purpose of 

 testing the results they gave us, or of observing 

 new phenomena to which our attention had not 

 previously been directed. 



I. Numerous experiments, for example, have 

 been made upon the use of bones in the raising 

 of turnips, but they have been chiefly directed to 

 economical ends, and so tar with the most satis- 

 factory results. But among fifty intelligent and 

 thinking practical men, and who all agree in re- 

 gard to the profit to be derived from the use ol 

 bones with the turnip crop, how many will agree 

 in regard to the mode in which they act — how few 

 will be able to give a satisfactory reason for the 

 opinion they entertain ! The same is true ol 

 theoretical chemists, some attributing their effect 

 more especially to the earthy matter, others to the 

 gelatine they contain. Dry bones contain about 

 two-thirds of their weight of earthy matter, the 

 other third consisting chiefly of animal matter re- 

 sembling glue. Of the earthy matter five-sixths 

 consist of phosphates of lime and magnesia, and 

 the rest chiefly of carbonate of lime. Thus a ton 

 of bone dust will contain — 



Animal matter - 

 Phosphates of lime, &c. 

 Carbonate oi' lime, &c. 



746 lbs. 



- 1245 lbs. 



249 lbs. 



2240 lbs. 



On which ofthese constituents does the efficacy 

 of bones chiefly depend 1 Does it depend upon 

 the animal matter.? — This opinion is in accord- 

 ance with the following facts : — 



P. That in the Doncaster report it is said to be 

 most effectual on calcareous soils, — for in the 

 presence of lime all organic matter more rapidly 

 decomposes. 



2°. That horn shavings are a more powerful 

 manure than bones, — since horn contains only 

 one or two per cent, of earthy matter.* 



3°. That before the introduction of crushed 

 bones, the ashes of burned bones had been long 

 employed to a small extent in agriculture, but 

 have since fallen almost entirely into disuse. 



4*^. That old sheep skins cut up and laid in the 

 drills, have been found to yield as good a crop of 

 turnips and after-crop of corn, as the remainder 

 of the field which was manured with bones. 



5". That "40 lbs. of bone dust are sufficient to 

 supply three crops of wheat, clover, potatoes, 

 turnips, &c., with phosphates,"! while a ton or a 



* This, I believe, is rather a matter of opinion 

 than the result of a sufficient number of actual trials. 

 Some trials made by Mr. Hawden (British Hus- 

 bandry, I., rp.;395) gave results very unfavorable 

 to horn shavings. 



t Liebig, p. 84. The acre here spoken of is the 

 Hessian, about three-fifths of the English acre The 

 English, therefore, will require 66 lbs. 



ton and a half of bones, containing from 1200 to 

 IHOO lbs. of phosphates, is the cjuanliiy usually 

 applied to the land. 



On the other hand, the quantity of animal mat- 

 ter present in a ton of bones (74G lbs.) is so small, 

 and its decomposition so rapid during the growth 

 of the turnips — while at the same lime the effects 

 of the bones are so lasting, and so beneficial to the 

 after-crop of corn — that many persons hesitate 

 in considering the great excess of phosphates ap- 

 plied to the land, as really without any share of 

 influence in the production of the crops. 



Thus Sprengal, an authority of the very highest 

 character both in theoretical and practical agri- 

 culture, is persuaded that the phosphates are the 

 sole fertilizing ingredients in bones ; and he ex- 

 plains the want of success from the use of crushed 

 bones in JMecklenburgand North Germany, on the 

 supposition that the soil in those countries already 

 contains a sufficient supply ofphosphates, while in 

 England generally they are deficient in these 

 compounds. 



Further, if the animal matter be the fertilizing 

 agent in bones, why are they not of equal efficacy 

 on (Trass land as upon turnips? 



With ihe view, therelbre, of leading to some 

 rational explanation of the relative effects of the 

 several constituents of bones, it would be desira- 

 ble to institute comparative experiments of the 

 following kinds : — 



1°. With a ton of bones per acre. 



2°. With seven or eight cwt. of horn shavings 

 or glue per acre. 



3°, With three cwt. of burned bones per acre. 



40. With thirteen cwt. of burned bonea per 

 acre. 



The quantity of burned bones in No. 4 is that 

 which is yielded by a ton of fresh bones ; that in 

 No. 3 is upward ol" five limes what should be 

 taken up by the crops — as great part of what is 

 added must be supposed to remain in the soil, 

 while some must be dissolved and carried off by the 

 rains. 



The results of such experiments as these, if 

 made accurately on diflTerent soils, will lead ua 

 sooner to the truth than whole volumes of theo- 

 retical discussion. 



II. Nitrate of soda has also been applied with 

 great benefit in the culture of turnips. Some ex- 

 periments, exceedingly favorable in an economi- 

 cal point ofview, have been made by IMr. Barclay, 

 of Eastwick Park, Surrey,* who found that one 

 cwt. per acre, drilled in with the seed, gave as 

 great a return of Swedes as 15 bushels of bones 

 with 15 of wood ashes per acre ; and when the 

 nitrate of soda was sown broad-cast, from 20 to 25 

 per cent. more. In every part of the country, 

 therefore, this substance ought to be tried. And as 

 this nitrate is very soluble in water, and may 

 therefore be readily carried off' by the rain, and as 

 only that which is within reach of the plant is of 

 any avail, I would suggest that not more than 

 one-fourth of the whole should be drilled in with 

 the seed, for the purpose of bringing away the 

 plant ; and that after the thinning by the hoe, the 

 rest should be strewed along the rows by the hand 

 or by the drill. In this way the whole energy of 

 the salt being expended where it is .required, the 

 greatest possible effect will be produced. 



* Journal of the English Agricultural Society, I., 

 p. 428. 



