300 TRANSACTIONS OP THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



horse manure, which a 'book farmer' of our acquaintance says is spoiled 

 by the operation, or at least is not worth near so much for it ; we liad sup- 

 posed it much more valuable. What do you think ? Another question. 

 We have a chance to get a plenty of bones, and the soap-makers tell ns 

 they will readily soften by burying them in wood-ashes. Is the chemical 

 effect good or bad ? I think many farmers and amateur gardeners like 

 myself will like to hear your opinion. Dissolving them in vitriol or sul* 

 phuric acid is too troublesome for most of us, if there is any other way 

 nearly as good." 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — I will answer the question, that this is not the 

 kind of waste spoken of as valueless by Prof Mapes. That was the waste 

 lime, which, after it had been used with the soda, was in the condition of 

 powdered limestone or chalk, and not worth the expense of hauling and 

 application to land. 



Dr. Ward. — The value of horse manure consists greatly in the amount 

 of ammonia it contains. Exposing it in the manner spoken of, in contact 

 with the waste, part of the ammonia is partly absorbed by it, or else is 

 liberated and goes into the air. Lime always injures manure. As to dis- 

 solving bones in ashes, that plan has frequently been commended by this 

 Club. Mr. Carpenter and Dr. Ward both recommended mixing this waste 

 in a compos.t of muck or loamy earth. 



Mr. R. H. Williams. — I answer. Most assuredly it is. The material is 

 composed of animal matter in the shape o^ fat, fibre, and hone, combined 

 with alkali — usually both jjotash and soda. 



There can be no combination of crude material better calculated to fur- 

 nish not only valuable manure, but a large quantity, by being combined 

 with neutral soil, and allowed to decompose and impart its valuable pro* 

 perties of carbon, ammonia, and phosphates to the mass in such proportions 

 as to render it adaptable to the use of vegetation. 



The Best Way to Keep Corn Fodder. 



Mr. D. A. Lillie writes from Geneva, III., that when he lived in Vermont, 

 he was very successful in preserving corn fodder, in the following manner; 

 "Cut up as soon as hardened, dried in stacks, then husked, and then put up 

 in small stacks, salting them at the rate of three or four quarts to the ton. 

 This kept them moist without mouldering, so that stock ate them entirely, 

 tops and buts. For fear of giving too much salt they were given only 

 once a day. The corn raised was an eight-rowed, long-eared kind, that did 

 not grow very large, but would yield more to the acre than the large dent 

 kind, common at the West. Whoever adopts this method of keeping corn 

 fodder, will not abandon it." 



Value of Cooked Food for Making Pork. 



The writer of the above letter also says that " a long series of carefully 

 conducted experiments h^ve established the following facts in regard to 

 making pork, to wit : That fifty pounds of good, whole, raw, dry corn, 

 judiciously fed to a good breed of hogs, in clean, comfortable, well ventila- 

 ted pens, will produce ten pounds of pork ; the same quantity, after being 

 soaked and fermented at least three days, will make 15 pounds ; the same 



