MR. NICHOLS' ADDRESS. 19 



tain that principle, the application of this manure may aid you but 

 little in producing seed. 



Suppose you sow wheat upon a field which contains none of the 

 phosphates. You apply guano of a variety which does not contain 

 the requisite quantity. The stalk of your wheat may be prodig- 

 ious, but to form the grain it calls upon the soil and the guano for 

 the phosphates — they are not afforded, and the grain fails. How 

 many instances are there in the experience of the farmer when the 

 produce of the seed is sadly disproportioned to the yield of stalk, 

 a result he is fully unable to explain. Your soil and manure beiiig 

 thus deficient in phosphate of lime, in what direction will you look 

 for that agent which will promptly re'store to your plants their seed- 

 bearing capabilities ? 



The talismanic power lies in those bones which lie bleaching and 

 useless around your dwellings. Gather them up ; there is gold 

 locked up in those silvery, shining grains which constitutes their 

 mass. They are useless encumbrances where they are, and they 

 only need the most simple manipulation to induce them to disgorge 

 their hidden treasures. Every farmer is capable of collecting 

 bones enough during each year to afford him more than one hun- 

 dred pounds of plant food, of as much value as the richest guano. 

 Next to ammonia, phosphoric acid in combination with lime is the 

 most valuable constituent of manure. 



The bones, in order to fit them for application to the soil, should 

 be dissolved in sulphuric acid. For this purpose a cheap wooden 

 tank, or an excavation in the ground plastered with cement, may be 

 provided. The bones must be thrown in, and the acid diluted with 

 four parts of water turned upon them, so that all the bones will be 

 subjected to the action. When dissolution is effected, the resultant 

 powder or paste should be blended with the compost heap in prop- 

 er proportions. It will constitute one of its most important ingre- 

 dients, and will aid most wonderfully, in conjunction with ammonia, 

 in the production of heavy crops of grain, and also root crops, such 

 as turnips, carrots, beets, &c. 



My subject is full of practical suggestions, but time fails me and 

 I must close. 



I have said enough, I trust, to accomplish my object, which has 

 been to show the husbandman how intimately connected is Chemis- 



