68 FERTILIZERS. 



every time covered with plaster. It is considerable trouble 

 to reduce bones in this way, but it gives a better return 

 for the money than buying fertilizers in the market. After 

 the potash has acted on the bone, large pieces can be 

 crushed in the fingers. He has used no other fertilizer 

 than this on his strawberries, and it is equally good for 

 grapes. He has put no animal manure on his grapes since 

 they were set out, but either ashes or bone and potash ; 

 and this treatment has been so satisfactory that he will 

 continue it. A neighbor has used a similar preparation of 

 bone and potash on his pear-trees, making the fruit better 

 and fairer. Mr. Hunt's method would be apt to volatilize 

 a large portion of the nitrogen from the bones by the rapid 

 caustic action of the potash. 



THE THEORIES OF FERTILIZING. 



My little treatise, aiming at facts, can hardly stop to 

 discuss theories. When the able men who have spent 

 their lives in investigating plant-feeding differ fundamen- 

 tally in their views, which shall we, simple farmers, pin 

 our faith to ? Boussingault values manures in proportion 

 to the ammonia they contain, making no account of the 

 mineral constituents. Leibnitz bases his value on what 

 he finds in the ash, and ignores the ammonia qualities. 

 Ville, in his theory of manuring, advocating the use of 

 nitrogen for wheat, potash for legumes, such as beans, 

 pease, etc., and phosphoric acid for roots, such as turnips, 

 parsnips, etc., considering potash lime in some form 

 and nitrogen as making a complete manure, .advocates 

 manuring on poor soil with a combination of all of these 

 for the first crop, no matter what that may be, to the 

 end that the soil may be made a fertile one ; and, after 

 the first crop, to make each year an application only of the 

 one element which is the preponderating one in the crop 



