164 FARM APPLIANCES. 



izers. "With the Experiment Stations to analyze the 

 samples, there is not much danger of adulteration. The 

 high price of this comminuted bone, two cents a pound 

 and upward, deters many farmers from using it on a 

 large scale, even where there is no doubt that the invest- 

 ment would pay. In a limited way, the small farmer 

 has the means within his reach, of reducing several bar- 

 rels of bones to a fine powder every year. A solution of 

 potash will reduce bone to a fine condition, and make it 

 available for plant food. Most farmers still use wood 

 for fuel, and the ashes from the fifteen or twenty cords 

 used in a year, if saved, would reduce all the bones ordi- 

 narily within reach of the farmer. The old-fashioned 

 leach that used to stand at almost every farmer's back- 

 door for soap-making, was a good contrivance for reducing 

 the bones. But any tight, strong cask or box, will an- 

 swer quite as well for this purpose. Water poured upon 

 the ashes makes a lye, or solution of potash, strong 

 enough to decompose the bones. The casks should stand 

 under cover, so that the quantity of water applied to the 

 bone and ashes will be under control. The time it will 

 take to reduce the bone to a powder, will depend upon 

 the amount of potash in the ashes, and attention be- 

 stowed upon the process. It is essential that the ashes 

 and bone should be closely packed in the mass, and that 

 they be kept in a moist state, adding water as it evapo- 

 rates from the surface. The finer the bone before it is 

 packed in the ashes, the sooner will it be reduced. The 

 process can be hastened by putting into the mass a few 

 pounds of common potash. But this is only necessary to 

 save time. Ashes from hickory or any other hard wood 

 contain sufficient potash to decompose the bone. When 

 the mass is soft enough to break down with a spade or 

 shovel, it can be mixed with land plaster, dried peat, or 

 loam, to make it convenient for handling. It is a con- 

 centrated fertilizer, to be used with discretion in the hill, 



