Proceedings of the Farmers' Olvb. 645 



the first. Coal ashes have a mechanical effect, if nothing else ; they 

 open and lighten the soil, admitting air and sunlight. 



Mr. J. B. Lyman. — I experimented some with coal ashes last year, 

 and ray conclusions were not flattering. They give a lush growth of 

 top, but no body to a root, and no grain. I tried them on onions, 

 beets and tomatoes. In May and June they grew bravely, but, as 

 soon as summer heat came on, that part of the garden showed no 

 heart. Tlie onions did not become bigger than butternuts, and the 

 beets were pulled up and eaten as greens, for the roots ceased to grow. 

 Tomato vines grew rank, but fruited badly. My conclusion is, that 

 coal ashes, I am talking of anthracite, may give a spring start to 

 grass, but they are worth nothing at the last of the season, when roots 

 get their size and grain is developed in corn. 



Mr. W. S. Carpenter. — In all such experiments we do not know 

 how much kindling wood may have been burned with the coal ; the 

 wood gives all, or nearly all, the potash that coal ash contains. 



Dr. Lewis Feuchtwauger. — There is much silica in coal ash, and it 

 is, in a fine state, easily soluble in water. This accounts for its efiect 

 in spring. But, though the form or outline of plants may be built 

 up from silica, their value for food must come from potassa, phos- 

 phorus and lime. Silicic acid is not, properly speaking, an element 

 in true manure, because most soils contain abundance of it. 



Bones as a Feetilizee. 



Mr. J. M. Paul, N^orth Adams, Mass., would like to know whether 

 it is advisable, where bones can be easily obtahied, to attempt a home 

 raanufactorj'- of them into fertilizers. If so, what is the best method ? 

 Will strong wood ashes dissolve them successfully, and how long will 

 it take? What is the best method of using the whole carcase of 

 sheep, or other animals that die, into fertilizers ? Having read in an 

 agricultural paper that a good quality of pliosphate of lime can be 

 made by mixing one bushel of salt with one barrel of lime and three 

 of muck, would like to knoM- if any member of the club has tried it ? 

 How can I rid my trees of the borer ? 



Mr. James A. Whitney. — I wnll say, in brief, that a bone unbroken 

 does about as much good on soils as a stone, and not much more. 

 The best way to get them into the proper state for plant food, is 

 either to grind them fine or to melt them in an acid or strong alkali. 

 Dig a shallow pit, bank it around with clay, break the bones with a 

 hig hammer in as little pieces as may be, the finer the better, pile 



