52 ON MANURE. 



fowl, to the largest bone of an ox. The small bones 

 will decompose in a few months, but the largest will 

 remain for twenty, thirty, and even fifty years, be- 

 fore they are entirely decayed, while the intermediate- 

 sized ones, according to their respective kinds, will 

 be continually decomposing in succession for a great 

 number of years, yielding thereby a constant supply 

 of nutriment of the most valuable description. It is 

 worthy of remark, also, that every bone, whether 

 small or large, after it has been deposited in the soil 

 a few weeks, will begin to yield, by the decomposi- 

 tion of the gluten on its surface, a steady supply of 

 nutritious matter, and continue so to do, until it be 

 resolved into its constituent parts, and form part of 

 the soil itself 



Many results might be adduced, of experiments 

 tried at various times, to ascertain the value of entire 

 bones as manure to the roots of vines, all of which 

 would prove, that they yield, beyond all comparison, 

 a xnoxe permanent supply of nourishment than can be 

 obtained from any other substance used as manure. 

 The details of these would occupy too great a space ; 

 those of two, however, may perhaps be advantage- 

 ously mentioned. 



In the year 1826, several vines were planted against 

 a wall having a south aspect, in a border the soil of 

 which is a stiff clayey loam. In the following year a 

 quantity of bones, not more than a bushel, the largest 

 of which was the blade bone of a calf, was digged in- 

 to the border at a distance of five feet from the wall. 

 They were deposited altogether as a horizontal layer 

 of six inches in depth, the upper surface being twelve 

 inches, and the bottom eighteen, from the surface of 

 the border. In the spring of 1833, the border was 

 opened; in order to ascertain to what extent the roots 

 of the vines were nourished by these bones. On ex- 

 amination, it was found that the roots had branched 

 out in every possible direction amongst the bones, the 

 surfaces of which were completely covered with their 

 fibres. The blade bone happened to be in such a po- 



