42 



THE GENESEE FARMER, 



Having the bon* dust, how should it be used ? 

 Should it be converted into superphosphate, or 

 sown on the land as it is ? "We have thought much 

 on tliis subject, and are inclined to think that, ex- 

 cept in the neighborhood of large cities, whej-e 

 »ul])hnric acid can be obtained at a reasonable rate, 

 say two cents per lb., it will generally be cheapest 

 in the end to apply the bone dust without mixture 

 with acid. For wheat, we are fully satisfied it will 

 not pay to decompose the bones with acid ; and on 

 grass lands, from the experiments we have made 

 on the subject, we conclude it is of doubtful econ- 

 omy. For turnips and other root crops, except 

 potatoes, no manure has such a beneficial effect as 

 good home-made superphosphate of lime drilled in 

 with the seed. If sown broadcast its efft^ets are 

 not so marked. 



With fine bone dust, no farmer need have any 

 trouble in making superphosphate. "We have suc- 

 ceeded best as follows : Take a large tub or end of 

 a cask, place in it the quantity of bone dust that 

 can be best worked at a time, say sixty lbs. ; add 

 water sufiicient to wet all the bone dust, say forty lbs. 

 and be careful that all the dust is moistened. Then 

 pour on sulpliuric acid equal to full one-third the 

 weight of the bone dust, say twenty to twenty-five 

 lbs. (sp. gr. 1.70.) The mass should be friskly 

 stirred as soon as the acid is added. "When it is 

 well mixed, throw the serai-fluid mass in a heap on 

 a wooden floor, and repeat the process till the whole 

 is done. The larger the heap the better, as the 

 iieat generated in the process materially assists the 

 acid in decomposing the bones. 



A tolerably good superphosphate may also be 

 made with less labor, by placing all the bone dust 

 ftt once in a heap on a wooden floor, adding the 

 proper quantity of water, and turning over the 

 heap until all the dust is moistened, and the« apply 

 the sulphuric acid in small quantities, repeatedly 

 shoveling over the heap, and adding the acid until 

 the proper proportion is used. The longer the su- 

 perphosphate is allowed to remain in the heap, the 

 better. 



Superphosphate so made will be too moist fcr 

 transportation, and cannot be sown to advantage 

 without admixture to some absorbent substance. 

 In England, burnt clay, refuse charcoal dust, coal 

 ashes, dried peat, or even sawdust, are used for this 

 purpose. "Whatever is used, bo very careful that 

 it does not contain an alkoii, or alkaline earth, 

 as this would materif^y injure the mixture. — 

 Unleached wood ashes and lime, must on no 

 account be employed for this purpose. They 

 would i>*'utralize the acid, and reconvert the 



soluble superphosphate ' into the insoluble phos- 

 phate, and thus imdo what has been done at) 

 considerable expense. 



LARGE YIELD FOR TWO ACRES 



In a recent conversation with the Hon. A. B. 

 Dickinson, of Hornby, Steuben Co., ¥. Y., he sta- 

 ted that he obtained one hundred and forty-four 

 bushels of barley the pas* season from two acres 

 of land, or seventy-two hnsheU per acre. 



The land had been in grass for some years -- 

 which was irrigated and produced a heavy crop of 

 bay each year. It was broken up in the fall, and 

 sown to oats in the spring without being plowed 

 again — it was simply harrowed two or three times 

 lengthwise of the furrows. The crop of oats was 

 eighty bushels per acre. After the oats were oft", 

 the land was plowed in the fall, and planted to 

 potatoes in the spring. These yielded four humdred 

 bushels per acre. The land was again plowed in 

 the fall, and sown to barley the next spring without 

 again plowing. This produced, as before stated, 

 seventy-two bushels per acre. 



These are all great crops. They are doubtless 

 attributable in a good degree to the irrigation of 

 the grass land. The sod or turf which was plowed 

 in was very heavy, and its decay in the ground 

 furnished a large amount of organic matter for ther 

 use of the subsequent crops. 



"We write this from memory. If we have made 

 any mistakes, Mr. Dickinson, we liope, will correct 

 them. And we would also here say, that we should 

 feel obliged if Mr. D. would write us a short article 

 on irrigation. He has had much experience in this 

 important, but too much neglected, branch of good 

 farming, and we are sure an article from him on 

 this subject would be read with interest. 



ScAEOiTT OF Fodder. — A. S. Graham, of Chau- 

 tauque Co., N. Y., writes us, that, owing to the 

 June frost last year, which destroyed more than 

 half the crop of grass, farmers in that county are 

 drawing corn fodder twenty-five miles to feed their 

 stock, while some are driving off their cows to be 

 wintered elsewhere. The young stock has been 

 mostly sold, to go East, and also the working oxen. 

 But they have held on to the cows. Thousands of 

 bushels of corn were sown for fodder, which has 

 proved a great help. 



Cotton in Illinois. — The Prairie Farmer states 

 that cotton has been successfully raised last season 

 in ^angammon Co., IlL The quantity grown was 

 small, but it wiU encourage farther trials. 



