304 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 5 



that could be made where there is nothing upon 

 which to Ibund one. 



For a Mowing and Reaping Machine; Alexan- 

 der M. Wilson, Rhinebeck, Duchess county, New 

 York, December 30. 



This, like some other mowing machines, is to 

 be driven forward by a horse, and it has on its 

 front a horizontal revolving wheel which carries 

 the cutlers by which the mowing, &c. is to be ef- 

 fected. This wheel is caused to rise with the rise 

 of the ground, by the action of small wheels or 

 rollers, and is itselfdriven by means of a band 

 around a drum on the axle of the large wheels. 

 There are several appendages which it would be 

 in vain to describe without the drawing. The 

 claim is to the fly wheel with its knives or cutters, 

 eubstantially as described, together with the gen- 

 eral arrangement of the apparatus. Similar cut- 

 ter wheels have been employed, and we do not 

 see any thing in the general construction of this 

 machine likely to insure its operating better than 

 other mowing machines previously patented in this 

 country and in Europe. 



From Loudon's Gardener's Magazine. 



The Use of Crushed Bones as Manure. 



By Cuthbert William Johnson, Author of "An Essay 

 on the Employment of Salt in Agriculture," &c. 

 Pamph. 8vo. pp. 16; third edition. London, 1836. 



The use of bony matters as manures, originated 

 in the neighborhood of Sheffield towards the con- 

 clusion of the eighteenth century; the fi\rmers being 

 allowed, at first, to cany away the bone rubbish 

 for nothing; but afterwards, when it was found of 

 some value, a small charge per load was demand-- 

 ed by the manufacturers, from whom the rubbish 

 was obtained. The use of bones as manure did 

 pot become general till the Doncaster Agricultural 

 Association published a circular letter of inquiry, 

 about ten years ago, which directed the attention 

 of the public to the subject. 



Such is the essence of the historical introduction 

 given by Mr. Johnson. He next examines — 1. 

 The composition of bones; 2. The component 

 parts of bones found in vegetable substances; and 

 3. The effects of j and the modes of applying bones, 

 either broken, crushed, or in the state of powder, 

 or bone dust. 



1. "The bones of animals do not vary much in 

 composition: they all contain phosphate of lime, 

 and carbonate of lime, with a portion of cartilage 

 or animal matter, with other minor ingredients." 

 (p. 5.) 



2. The cartilage of bones is composed of a sub- 

 stance nearly identical in all its properties with 

 Bolid albumen. 



"One hundred parts of albumen are composed of 



Parts. Parts. 



- 15.705 



Azote, 



100. 



It is perfectly needfess to specify any vegetable sub- 

 stances into which the three first of these enter; for the 

 vegetable world is almost entirely composed of tliem, 

 and occasionally, though rarely, a portion of azote is 

 also found in vegetable substances, but the three first 



are invariably present. The flour of wheat, the poison 

 of the deadly nightshade, the oxalic acid of the wild 

 sorrel, the narcotic milk of the lettuce, the stinking 

 odor of the garlic, and the perfume of the violet, are, 

 by the contrivance of their Divine Architect, only some 

 of the results of the combination in diHierent proportions 

 of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. 



But the chief constituent present in all bones, we 

 have already seen, is the phosphate of lime; and how 

 absolutely necessary this substance is for the healthy 

 vegetation of plants, will be apparent from the follow- 

 ing table, which contains the results of the examina- 

 tion by MM. Saussure and Vauquelin, and a few other 

 distinguished chemists, of the ashes, or solid contents, 

 of a number of vegetable substances. 



One hundred parts of the ashes of the 

 Parts. 



Grain of the oat yiel- 

 ded of phosphate 

 of lime, - - 39.3 

 Straw of wheat, 

 phosphates of lime 

 and magnesia, - 6.2 

 Seeds of wheat, - 44.5 

 Bran ot wheat, - 46.5 

 Seeds of vetches, - 27.92 

 Seeds of golden rod 

 ( Solidago Virgaii- 

 rea,) - - . li. 

 Plants of turnsole 

 (Helianthus an- 

 nuus,) - - - 22.5 



Chaff of barley, 



Parts. 



Seeds of barley, - 42.5 



Seeds of oat, • 24. 



Leaves of oak, - 24. 

 Wood of oak, - 4.5 

 Bark of oak, - 4.5 



Leaves of poplar, - 13. 



Wood of ditto, . 16.75 



ijcaves of hazel, - 23.3 



Wood of hazel, - 35. 

 Bark of hazel, - 5.5 



Wood of mulberry, 2.25 

 Bark of mulberry, 8.5 



Wood of hornbeam, 23. 

 Bark of hornbeam, 4.6 



Seeds of peas, 17.5 



7.75 I Bulbs of garUc, 



8.9 



Phosphate of lime has also been found in the com- 

 mon bean ( Ficia i^aba,) and in the pea pod, or husk, 

 by Einhof; in rice, by Braconnot; in the Scotch fir, by 

 Dr. John; in the quinquina of St. Domingo, by Four- 

 croy; in the fuci, by Gaultier de Clauberry; and in many 

 others. In fact, as Dr. Thomson remarks. System of 

 Chemistry, vol. iv. p. 319., "phosphate of lime is a con- 

 stant ingredient in plants." 



The cultivator of the soil will not be incredulous as 

 to the power of vegetables to dissolve and feed upon 

 the hard substance of the crushed bones of animals, 

 when he is reminded that the ashes of the straw of 

 wheat are composed of 61^ per cent of silica (flint,) a 

 still harder substance than the hardest bone. And fhis 

 is not a solitary instance; for the same earth abounds in 

 a still greater proportion in the straw of other grain. 

 Vauquelin found 60f per cent of it in the ashes of the 

 seeds of the oat; and the Dutch rush (JEquisetum hye- 

 male) contains it in such abundance, that it is employ- 

 ed by the turner to polish wood, and even brass." (See 

 Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. v. p. 178.) 



3. The returns received by the Doncaster As- 

 sociation, established the efficacy of bones as ma- 

 nure, more especially on light soils; and Mr. John- 

 son's pamphlet concludes with the ibllowing gene- 

 ral directions for their use : — 



"The crushed bones have been invariably found more 

 immediately beneficial as a fertiliser, when suffered to 

 remain previously for some weeks, mixed with earth in 

 heaps, exposed to the action of the atmosphere. By 

 being thus fermented and dissolved, they are necessa- 

 rily more speedily serviceable as food to the plants to 

 which they are applied; and this observation more es- 

 pecially lelates to the oat, barley, and other spring corn, 

 since these do not remain on the ground for so long a 

 period as other agricultural crops. The proportion is 

 50 bushels of bones, with five loads of earth or clay; or 

 40 bushels to five loads of common dung. 



For wheat, and pasture lands, the previous fermen- 

 tation of the bones is, lor this reason, not so essential 

 to the production of immediate benefit. 



It is impossible to give any general directions for 



