190 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



DKO. 15, i$«r. 



ANP HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



BosTOK, Wedhesuat, December 15, 1841. 



1 beneficial with us upon the greater portion of the land 

 I that we cultivate. Experiment alone can determine. 



Those who h.ive noticed our ccurae during the pas< ^ 

 I year, have learned, we hope, to t.ike such (talementj u 



BONES— BONE DUST— CRUSHED BONES 

 Out pages have contained for the last fevj weeks, more 

 articles upon bono manurd than any other lop; 



How can farmers turn unbroken bones to good ac- the foregoing, as nolhing more ibaii our opinioiu. Wt 

 1 count. In one the back numbers of our pnper is an ar- cannot be responaible for their soundness. Every far' 

 licle from one who subscribes himnelf " A Mechanic," mcr should lake what he has seen and experienced, it ^ 

 which gave lis a valuable suggestion, and which may be connection with what he reads, when deciding upoi «t 

 [ acted upon by every family. According to our recol- ! questions like those we hare been noticing. The sub 

 lection this mechanic remembered that hia mother when ject here brought up is one of great importance, and w. 



The 



she made soaii. put bones in the leanh— and that the ac- shall bo very glad to receive light upon it from any on> £ 

 reason ofthis is simply a conviction that this means of J tiori of the ashes softened and almost consumed the who can aid its elucidation. 



bones. Might not a tight box or tub be procured which 



enriching the soil is not sufficiently regarded. Having 

 made use of crushed bones for various crops, and ap- 

 plied Ihein under various circumstances, and this not in 

 one year only, but in 1838, ';i9and'41; and having 

 seen their eflVcta not upon the first crop merely, but up- 

 on two and tliree subsequent ones, we set a high value 

 upon them. It is our intention to use them more ex- 

 •ensively the next season than wo have done before, 

 and for the single reason, that when we sit down and 

 with pencil and paper figure up cost and efficary, we 

 find this a cheaper manure than any other that we can 



luy. 



The results of our experiments have in part been 

 made public in the Transactions of the Essex Agricultu- 

 r»l Society for 1536, and in the back numbers of the N 

 E. Farmer. There is no occasion to repeat tbein here. 

 Our purpose in this article is not so much to prove their 

 worth, as to give some cautions and directions in regard 

 to the tise of them, ano suggest a mode by which the 

 farmer may turn to good account those which he is daily 

 removing from his table, or which be obtains from the 

 heads and legs of the animals which he slaughters, or 

 may get from such animals as he loses by death. 



In England, 40 and 60 bushels of crushed bone are 

 applied to an acre. But it ia unsafe for us to follow 

 their example. Their climate is vastly more moist than 

 ours, and their cultivated soil is generally much heavier. 

 Healing manures may profitably be applied by them in 

 quanlitii-8 which wodld burn up the crop in our sum- 

 mers. Bones aie obviously very healing; and *o are 

 satisfied that where they have been used in this vicinity, 

 the quantity applied has bceW tec great. We shall not 

 in futare use more than twenty bu.sheU upon an acre, 

 and generally shall use much less than that. They 

 must be used as aids ic common manures, and to mark 

 and sand. And thst their influences upon the muck 

 and upon the silex in the sand, may bo fairly brought 

 out, ashes or the ley of ashes should be one of the ingre- 

 dients in the compost heap. Let them be well fermen- 

 ted and then apply them sparihgly. The fermentation, 

 however, is not designed to make the bones themselves 

 directly act with more power upon the soil — but it is to 

 weaken them by making them give out t portion of 

 their fertilizing properties to the muck, or soil, or sand 

 with which they arc mixed, and thus enable you to 

 spread the bane in a diluted state. 



Such bones as are usually ground, have previously 

 been boiled, and as much of the oily and gelatinous 

 matter has been taken from them as boiling can remove. 

 One might at first imagine that bonca thus treated would 

 be found of but little -value. The matters extracted by 

 the soapboiler are unquestionably good fertilizers, but 

 the phosphate of lime is the property in the bone that 

 constitutes its greatest value as a manure — and this, the 

 boiling does nut remove. Experiments in Europe have 

 shown that the difference in effect upon the soil be- 

 tween those that have been boiled and those that have 

 not, is very small. 



In England they are found useful, particularly on 

 light soils. Some friends whose eyes have gnzed upon 

 fields of Old England, tell ua that light aoils ihoro might 

 b* called heavy here. Cooiequenlly bones may be found 



might be sot in the ground, into which bones and ashes 

 and water could be put from time to time, and thus the 

 bones bo eaten up. If so, and we believe they might, 

 then the two or three bushels nf matter that could bo 

 taken from this tub once or twice a year, would be found 

 an exceedingly valuable addition to a compost heap of 

 20 or 30 loads. Two bushels of bones thus digested, 

 would probably furnish as much phosphate of lime as 

 the ruta bagas on an acre of land would require; and 

 this crop requires more than any other. 



SAND IN COMPOST. 



Through the post office a letter has come to us from 

 Mr J. West, containing some important inquiries and 

 stating some practices prevailing in the neighborhood of 

 the writer, that seem to us pnculisr and worthy of alten- 

 tioii. As Air West omitted to mention his place of resi- 

 dence, and as we are unable to read the post mark, we 

 must asK him to favor us with the name of the place 

 where sand is as highly valued for compost as loam or 

 muck. Is it sea sand, or the sand of inland hills and 

 plains.' The writer says; "Some farmers here use 

 sand alone, contending that it is the best thing for mix- 

 ing with manure; some use loam, others muck and 

 sand." He then asks : " Does sand retain the salts and 

 gases ol tlie manure, 08 well as loam or muck?" We 

 say, no. But if the compost is to be applied to soils 

 that are composed mostly of loam or muck, it ia not im- 

 probable that sand will be the better article in the com- 

 post. For by its mechanical action it will increase the 

 friability of such soil, and the silex, or flinty particles in 

 the sand, may furnish to these soils alkali, in which 

 they are often deficient. But if the soil is sandy on 

 which the manure is to be applied, we should prefer 

 first muck and next loam in the compost. In other 

 wonls, the principal ingredient in the compost should 

 be different from that of the soil on which it is used. — 

 These remarks embrace our answer to the following 

 questions : 



" Is sand when mixed with hog manure for the pur- 

 pose of manuring in the hill for corn, as valuable as loam 

 or muck .' 



■■ What ia the value of sand for carting into cattle or 

 hog yards, compared with loam or muck ?" 



The character of the soil on which it is to be used 

 must determine. 



" Where muck cannot be had, will rand pay the far- 

 mer for the trouble of mixing it with manure ?" 



Yos — if his soil be not very sandy. 'And oven in ca«e 

 it be sandy, the manure would lie rendered more ser- 

 viceable by the separation of its particles by sand, and 



MR SLEEPER'S ADDRESS. 



A.'< Address delivered bcfoie the Agricultural Societ; 

 of Wcstburo' and vicinity, by John S. Sleeper, Eiq jii 



This address by the editor of the Mercantile Journal 

 maintains that that curse — labor — is a blessing, Tbi 

 position is sound. And his further position that agricui 

 tural labor is among the most useful and honorable o 

 industrial employments, is equally correct. Theaddri 

 throughout abounds in appropriate and useful genera ■ 

 reflections and advice. Near the close we find this leo k 

 tenco : " If there is any class of persons who are dia il 

 posed to undervalue the labors, or bring discredit on thi 

 occupation of the farmer, il is the farmers themselves.' 

 Here we sgreu with the author fully. The same sentit 

 ment we have often uttered, and it should be repeateo 

 until farmers are willing to have their sons be farmei 

 and until farmers' wives shall be willing to have theU 

 daughters become farmers' wives. 



The address is published by Gould, Kendall <& LiH 

 coin. We shall give extracts from it in future numbeiM 



[HT'Mr Colhak, the late Agricultural Comipiuiom 

 has given notice that he is about to lake charge of tin 

 editorial department of the New Genesee Farmer, paM 

 lished at Rochester, N. Y. 



THE BEST SEED TO SOW. 

 There is one kind of seed which many farmers woul"^ 

 find it much to their interest to sow more plenlifull 

 than they do. Its peculiar advantages are that it ma; 

 be sown at all seasons of the year, on every variety o 

 soil, and with every crop. Wherever planted, it alway 

 springs up immediately and gives a profitable crop. Tli 

 name of this article is every where known, and th 

 iM'nf should be everjr where found: we mean disert 

 lion. Sow this in the garden and the field — aow it wit 

 corn — with potatoes — with grass — with every thing. 1 

 leesene the cost of all crops — it saves in the consumptioi 

 of all crop*. Sow it — it is the best seed. 



CANKER WORMS. 



The warm weather of the last week has caused tbi 



Cenker-worm grui to run rather freely in this vicinity 



THOSE CHIPS. 



John, get a basket and go and pick up all the chipt 



about the yard, before the snow comes and covers theE 



"P- 



THE CARDS. 



Boys, have those cows been well carded every morn 

 probably these particles of sand which have never been '. j„g ,;„„ Thanksgiving f Remember that we luld yoi 



subjected to the action of the fibrous roots of plants, may 

 yield their silux more readily to the growing crop than 

 those particles which have long been subjected to the 

 action of living fibres. 



" If a aand hill is near at hand, and muck a mile dis- 

 tant, will it be for the farmer's interest to use sand with 

 his manure i*" 



Y 

 muck also 



they ought to be. 



MEMORANDUM. 



That compost heap ought to grow rapidly in open 

 winter weather. 



0*We have seen it announced that Hon. F. O. J. 

 but he must not fail to send the team fur the Smith, of Portland, Me., is about to establish in that city 



a new agricultural paper. 



