266 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jdne 



are nearer to them in composition than any oth- earthy phosphates of lime as is contained in half 

 er common material. a hundred weight of bone dust. Hence the ad- 



'Bones, however, are valuable as manure, by 

 reason of their mineral matter, phosphate of 

 lime, &c., and also by their animal matter. This 

 latter, by slow decomposition, furnishes, year af- 

 ter year, something to the plant in the shape of 

 ammonia. 



"The phosphate of lime being an important 

 constituent of all our cereal grains, is, by itself, 

 a desirable addition to a soil. This can be easily 

 understood when it is remembered that nearly 

 the whole of the liones of all animals is original- 

 ly derived from the bone earth in vegetable food. 



"The specimens we have examined, contain a 

 larger per centage of phosphate of lime than 

 bones contain ; they have also rather more phos- 

 phoric acid than bone earth, and are in a finely 

 divided condition, so that the useful matter can 

 be readily taken up when applied to crops." 



The samples brought were under the charge 

 of a Government officer, Charles H. Davis, 

 Commander U. S. ship St. Mary's, and delivered 

 into the hands of the Government chemists. An- 

 alyses have been made by several other chemists 

 than those already referred to, and with similar 

 results. 



We wish to be perfectly understood in this 

 matter by the reader. We do not recommend 

 this guano, or any other specific fertilizer, to the 

 exclusion of a single shovel full of home-made 

 manure. All that can be made from the natural 

 resources of the farm imist hi made. But this be- 

 ing sadly deficient every where, after our be^t 

 efforts have been exerted, we recommend this 

 guano as a help, to enable us to gather more pro- 

 lific harvests of grain and roots, and restore 

 our exhausted pastures and fields to better crops 

 of grass and hay. With this view, we do not 

 hesitate to recommend its use sparingly, by a 

 large number of persons. 



The general agent of the company is A. C. Lom- 

 bard, Esq., Boston, Mass., who will supply pam- 

 phlets giving a more full account of it than we 

 are able to. The sub-agents are Messrs. Nourse, 

 Mason & Co., Quincy Hall, Boston. 



DAISIES AND BONE MANURE. 

 An English pa])er in commenting upon this 

 subject, remarks that the Cheshire dairy farmer, 

 by the free use of bone manure laid on his grass 

 lands, makes his farm, which at one time, before 

 tne application of bone mamn-e, fed only 20 head 

 of cows, now feed 40! In Cheshire, two-thirds 

 or more, generally three-fourths, of a dairy farm 

 are kept in perfect pasture, the remainder in til- 

 lage. Its dairy farmers are commonly bound to 

 lav the whole ot their manure, not on the arable, 

 but on the grass land, purchasing what may be 

 necessary for the arable. The chief improvement, 

 l)esides drainage, consists in the application oi 

 hone manure. In the milk of each cow, in its 

 urine, in its manure, in the bones of each calf 

 reared and sold off, a farm parts with as much 



vantage found in returning this mineral manurfc 

 by boning grass lands. The quantity of bones 

 now commonly given in Cheshire to an imperial 

 acre of grass land is about 12 or 15 cwt. This 

 dressing on pasture land will last seven or eight 

 years ; and on mowed land about half that peri- 

 od. But the grass land once boned and kept un- 

 der pasture is never so exhausted as to be as 

 poor as it was before the application. — Moore's 

 Rural New-Yorker. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PROFITS FROM. POULTRY. 

 DISCUSSION AT THE CONCORD FARMER'S CLUB. 



March 24, 1859.— John Broaa'N, 2d, stated 

 that on the 1st of January, 1858, he had 50 hens. 

 In April he bought eight more. In June he sold 

 20 hens, that weighed from eight to 12 pounds 

 per pair, for 14 cents per pound. He sold 478 

 dozen eggs, and raised from 60 to 70 chickens. 

 He received for eggs and chickens, $125. Cost 

 of keeping, $70. Made manure worth $10. He 

 covered the droppings once a fortnight with 

 loam. January 1st, 1859, had 00 hens. Has 

 sold since 150 dozen eggs. His hens are of 

 mixed breeds. He feeds on oats, barley and 

 wheat, corn and cob meal, or shorts, new cab- 

 bage, pumpkins and squashes, rotten apples, 

 boiled potatoes. He does not keep corn before 

 them. Thinks this will make them too fat, and 

 they will not lay as well. Keeps scraps by them. 

 Sometimes boils a young calf and gives them, 

 pounds up the bones ; keeps some kind of food 

 by them all the time. Thinks it was more prof- 

 itable last year to sell eggs than to raise chick- 

 ens ; some years it is most profitable to raise 

 chickens. 



J. P. Brown thinks it is best to raise both, as 

 a hen that raises a brood of chickens, will lay 

 about as many eggs as one that does not. 



E. Wood, Jr., has 112 hens. When he began 

 to keep them, he was desirous to know how much 

 it cost per day to keep a hen, and he weighed 

 and measured the food for a few weeks. He finds 

 the cost about one-third of a cent. Hens require 

 a mixture of grains ; if they have but one kind, 

 barley is the best. They must have a warm place, 

 and sunshine. Does not let them run out in cold 

 weather ; he did not let them out till March ; his 

 hens have improved under his keeping, and laid 

 well. He takes two pounds of scraps at night, 

 and puts into a pail of hot water, and lets it stand 

 till morning ; then puts in cob meal and water, 

 enough to fill the pail ; this makes them a break- 

 fast. He gives barley or some other grain in the 

 forenoon, and corn at noon ; he gives a good 

 deal of meat, and pounds up the bones with a 

 sledge hammer ; they eat the bones greedily : he 

 keeps oyster shells pounded where they can get 

 at them ; he has had as many as 60 eggs a day 

 from 112 hens. This is more than the average. 



The manure is valuable. He mixes with fine 

 mud ; thinks he shall have from $30 to $40 

 worth of manure, enough to go on 10 or 12 acres 

 of corn, putting a portion in each hill. Much de- 

 pends upon the condition of hens in the fall. 

 Hens that 1 e had of Mr. Farmer, had proved hi? 



