BONES AND ASHES MIXED. 205 



a way as to get it into the soil deeply ; you want to spread it 

 upon the ground after you have harrowed, and then sirajjly 

 cover it with a brush harrow. If you cover it very deeply you 

 will lose a portion of the effect. I say, therefore, that iu the 

 ap{)lication of these fertilizers, there is a large amount of good 

 sense and good judgment to be exercised. As far as my obser- 

 vation goes, I find the same difference in farming matters as in 

 the mechanic arts. There are some mechanics who can take 

 hold and do anything, and there are some farmers who can take 

 hold and do anything, and there are others who do not seem to 

 have tlie power to do things as they ought to be done. 



Mr. Ball, of Upton. You suggested several years ago, a 

 mixture of one hundred pounds of ashes, one hundred pounds 

 of bone^ twelve pounds of soda and twenty -five pounds of slacked 

 lime. Do you think it is necessary to have those additions, 

 or have you found by experiment the bone and ashes equally 

 good without them ? 



• Dr. Nichols. I have found the two simple ingredients, bone 

 and ashes, to meet all the requirements of my fields. I have 

 made a variety of compounds. Of course, it would require a 

 great many lectures to cover the ground of all my experiments. 

 I have used about every kind of fertilizer, in all kinds of com- 

 binations, and under all possible circumstances, as far as I could. 

 I have kept a record of those experiments, and from them I 

 deduce certain general conclusions, which guide me in my 

 operations. As it regards your question, I do not remember 

 particularly about that composition, but possibly it is one of 

 those mixtures which I have experimented with. 



Mr. Ball. It is in your address at Salem, published in the 

 report of 1867, I should think. 



Dr. Nichols. Yes, sir. I had not then made so many ex- 

 periments with the simple elements, as I have within the last two 

 years. 



Mr. Ball. I was desirous to know whether that was impor- 

 tant. I think there have been some experiments tried in our 

 own town, in which they have used the mixture you proposed, 

 by putting in the slacked lime and soda, and also by simply 

 mixing the bone and ashes together. I think that some have 

 felt that these were very important elements, and no doubt the 

 soil to which tUey applied the mixture needed some elements 



