On Bones as a Manure. 147 



Shell-Marl Among the articles that may be used in aid of hone- 

 dust, there is none better calculated to raise abundant crops of turnips, 

 than shell-marl. It consists of calcareous matter, the broken and par- 

 tially decayed shells of fresh-water fish, found often in morasses, and 

 at the bottom of lakes and ponds. It posse'sses great stimulating pro- 

 perties, and is highly beneficial in fertilizing the soil. There can be 

 no doubt therefore, that it furnishes the means of producing various 

 crops, and turnips in particular, if employed in the same way as bone- 

 dust, namely, inserting it into the drills, with the turnip seed. There 

 is every reason indeed to hope, that its growth would thus be render- 

 ed so rapid, as to prevent the attacks of the fly. The field should be 

 put in drills, in the usual style ; a moderate quantity of fish manure, 

 or fermented dung, say at the rate of two tons per acre, put in the 

 centre of the drills, and the turnip seed and shell-marl, mixed together, 

 sown by a drill machine above the fish or dung. 



By this simple process, immense crops of the Swedish, as well as 

 the common turnip, might be obtained; and perhaps that still more 

 valuable plant, the Mangold Wurzsl, might likewise be successfully 

 cultivated. 



The addition which this plan would make, to the value of the coun- 

 ties of Caithness, of Forfar, and other districts in Scotland, where 

 shell-marl abounds, is hardly to be credited. 



Corals. If every other substance of a similar quality were to fail, 

 it is a fortunate circumstance, that corals might be obtained in inex- 

 haustible quantities. Banks of them have been found in some of the 

 Western Islands of Scotland, and in the parishes of Southend in Ar- 

 gyleshire, and of Loch Broom in Ross-shire. It is well known, that 

 corals are of animal origin, and wherever they have been tried, their 

 effects have been highly gratifying. 



Conclusion. 



By these important discoveries in the art of agriculture, an end is 

 put, to all the fanciful divisions of our soil, by political economists, 

 into a certain number of zones, according to their supposed fertility. 

 All these zones, by means of these discoveries, may be rendered 

 equally productive. Already, it has been completely ascertained, 

 that, by means of bone-dust, the poorest, coldest, and most humid 

 lands, in various parts of England, have been brought into the highest 

 state of cultivation, and improved in regard to their produce and in- 

 tenseness of fertility. It can no longer be doubted, that, by means 

 of bones, and the other substances above enumerated, the coldest 

 clay, and poorest heaths, may be rendered productive. 



A foreign agriculturist, astonished at the immense exportation of 

 bones from the Continent to England, instituted some comparative 

 experiments, the results of which prove, that bone-dust acts in the 

 cultivation of grain, when compared to the best stable manure, 



1. In respect to the quality of the corn, as 7 to 5 



2. Jn respect to quantity, as 5 to 4 



3. In respect to durability of the energy of soils, as 3 to 2 



It is a strong argument also, in favour of bone manure, that it is 



