BONER AND THEIR USES— JAPAN PEA. 



account of an experiment tried by Mr. Edward 

 Wnxis, near Marsh field, Massachusetts. "Taking a 

 quantity of Ijones, none of them linger, and most of 

 them smaller than a man's two fists, he made a 

 good layer of fresh horse manure, on which he 

 placed a layer of bones, then a layer of manure, then 

 another layer of bones, and so on, alternating to the 

 top, covering the heap over well with the manure. 

 It lay somewhat longer than he intended, and became 

 somewhat fire-fanged. But the bones were utterly 

 decomposed, disintegrated and dissolved, so that the 

 whole heap had become a homogenous mas.s, and you 

 could not detect any bones in it. Now, the bones 

 were decomposed by the fermentation induced in 

 their component parts by contact with a fermenting 

 substance." 



■\Ve give below an extract from Prof. Norton's 

 Elements of Agriculture, showing the method of 

 preparing bones for use by means of sulphuric acid. 



"To every 100 lbs. of bones, about 50 or 60 of 

 acid are taken; if bone dust is used, from 2.') to 45 

 lbs. of acid is sufficient. The acid must be mixed 

 with two or three times its bulk of water, becau.se if 

 applied strong it would only burn and blacken the 

 bones without dissolving them. 



"a. The bones are placed in a tub, and a portion 

 of the previously diluted acid poured upon them. 

 After standing a day, another portion of acid may be 

 poured on ; and finally the last on the third day, if 

 they are not already dissolved. The mass should be 

 often stirred. 



"b. Another good way is to place the bones in a 

 heap upon any convenient floor, and pour a portion 

 of the acid upon them. After standing half a day, 

 the heap should be thoroughly mixed, and a little 

 more acid added; this to be continued so long as 

 necessary. It is a method which I have known to 

 prove very successful. 



" In either case the bones will ultimately soften and 

 dissolve to a kind of paste; this may be mi.xed with 

 twenty or thirty times its bulk of water, and applied 

 to the land by means of an ordinary water cart. 

 Used in this way, it produces a wonderful effect upon 

 nearly all crops. 



" A more convenient method in most cases is to 

 thoroughly mix the pasty mass of dissolved bones 

 with a large quantity of ashes, peat earth, sawdust, 

 or charcoal dust. It can then be sown by hand, or 

 dropped from a drill machine. Two or three bushels 

 of these dissolved bones, with half the usual quantity 

 of yard manure, are sufficient for an acre. This is 

 therefore an exceedingly powerful fertilizer. One 

 reason for its remarkable effect is, that the bones are 

 by dissoHing, brought into a state of such minute 

 division, that they are easily and at once available 

 for the plant. A peculiar phosphate of lime is formed, 

 called by chemists a superphosphate, which is very 

 soluble; and in addition to this, we have the sulphuric 

 acid, of itself an excellent application to most soils. 

 ' " I would particularly recommend farmers to ex- 



periment with bones dissolved in sulphuric acid. The 

 dissolving of them is a simple business, and can be 

 easily shown on a small scale, by the teacher to his 

 class. He can do it, for instance, in a tea-cup or tum- 

 bler, or on a plate or a flat stone. The cheapness of 

 this manure is a great reconnnendation. Two bush- 

 els of bones would not certainly cost more than $1 ; 

 then say 50 lbs. of acid to dissolve them would cost 

 by tiie carboy, $1,50, making only $'2,50 for a quan- 

 tity quite sufficient for an acre, with half the usual 

 dressing farm-yard manure. It would be worth al- 

 most as much as this, to cart the common manure 

 from the yard, to say nothing of its value. Ther« 

 are few farms on which bones enough might not ba 

 collected in the course of a year, to help out in this 

 way the manuring of several acres." 

 We will resume the subject in our next. 



JAPAN PEA. 



This new and rare article is found to be adapted 

 to our soil and climate, and yields bountifully. 'l"he 

 writer has counted on an average 300 pods to each 

 plant — pods containing from two to three peas. 

 They are small, round, of a cream color, and very 

 hard. Should think they migkt be ground. They 

 are very nutritious. The plant attains the height of 

 about thirty inches; it is stiff and woody — unlike all 

 other peas, it stands independent of all surrounding 

 objects, and upright, like a shrub or smaU tree. Ex- 

 perience will prove the best manner of cultivating 

 and harvesting. 



They should be planted or sown about the usual 

 time of planting corn, not earlier, as frost is fatal to 

 the young planta J. W. Bricgs. 



West Macedon, Wayne Co., N. Y. 



The Ohio State Agricultural Convention at its 

 recent meeting, passed the following resolutions, 

 among others, showing that the spirit of progress ia 

 abroad. We wish the members of every Agricul- 

 tural Society would exert their influence to secure 

 the establishment of a National Agricultural Bureau : 



Resolved, That this Convention recommend to the 

 Boards of County Agricultural Societies to address 

 the Representatives in Congress from their respective 

 districts, requesting them to use their utmost endea- 

 vors to secure a liberal appropriation by Congress 

 for the establishment of a National Agricultural 

 Bureau, to be placed upon a permanent basis, under 

 such management as will disseminate practical agri- 

 cultural knowledge throughout the entire Union, 

 thereby promoting the general interest of the age. 



Resolved, That we recommend to the farmers of 

 Ohio, the Osage Orange, a most valuable plant for 

 hedging, superior in every respect to any other plant 

 which has yet been introduced in Ohio for economi- 

 cal and enduring fences. 



