] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



361 



I 



r=W7^TOBARLEY^GRO W E RS.— When 



. MP 9 Vof Barley and other Lent Corn have been injured 

 X the Crops of V* ney " w th may be Revived by a 



* the ]°rSpnca Sn of N?TR ATE of SODA which may now 

 judicious »PP"cauon been knQwn for many 



ie bought at ajower Prjce^^ q( ^ SQLLY USTER> 

 r^urence-Pountney-Hill, London. 



ffljt frsrtcttlttu 4 al^a?ctte^ 



SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 1844. 



MEETINGS FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING WEEKS. 

 iV« D *»nAr, J«ne 5 Agricultural Sociery of England. 

 Tbcm" t, J"°« « Agricultural Imp. hoc. of Ireland. 



TCiphejpay, June 13 Agricultural Society of England. 

 tVum" f7 June 13 Agricultural Imp. boo of Ireland. 



FARMERS' CLUBS- 

 r West Hereford. I June 5 Milestone 



J - 3 ter a r- 



June 8 Monmouth. 



The value of bone-dust as a manure has been 

 long acknowledged. On looking over the 'Agricul- 

 tural County Reports published by the Board of 

 Agriculture in 1813, we find that in eleven of them 

 mention is made of this manure, and that in some 

 districts it was then used in large quantities. Thus 

 the reporter for Derbyshire states that Mr. Bunting 

 at Ashover used 100 bushels of bone-dust per acre 

 for his Turnip- crop, which cost 20 d. per bushel, and 

 that the Rev. Edward Otter at Bolsover used 80 

 bushels per acre of London bones crushed, costing 

 2*. 3d. per bushel. The reporter for Lincolnshire 

 states that Mr. Sutton of Alkborough manured with 

 30 bushels of bones from Sheffield, at 5/. per acre ; 

 the first year, the produce of Wheat was increased 

 by them 6 bushels per acre ; the Beans, the year 

 after, yielded a quarter of the crop more; and the 

 following year, the land being fallowed, " the Ketlocks 

 (Charlock, or Wild Mustard) were vastly more luxu- 

 riant!'' In other counties, also, this manure was 

 then gradually coming into notice as a powerful fer- 

 tiliser. The great point on which farmers who used 

 bone-dust then, differed in practice from those who 

 apply it now, was in the quantity applied. No one 

 would think now of applying 100 bushels,* or three 

 waggon-loads of bone-dust per acre. No wonder 

 that land, as we are informed in some cases, should 

 for years after such a manuring yield abundant crops 

 without any subsequent assistance. But was the 

 application on that account necessarily profitable or 

 economical ? By no means. Mr. Waterton, in his 

 essay on " Alkali as a Manure/* shows this very 

 elearly. We republish a remark on this subject, 

 to be found at page 157 of this Paper : — " It is a 

 eommon observation amongst farmers to say, 'I have 

 given such a field a dressing it will not forget for 

 years/ Upon reflection, it must strike any one that 

 this is a most improvident mode of proceeding." It 

 is bo, as is immediately afterwards stated by the 

 author, for two reasons — 1st, because the manure, if 

 not all absorbed by the crop to which it is applied, is 

 liable to waste during periods when the land is not 

 nnder crop ; and 2nd, because that portion remaining 

 in the soil, after the first crop, is so much capital 

 lying useless till the second and third or fourth, or, 

 as in the instance just mentioned, till the twentieth 

 ^rop, before which it is not all consumed. 



This point seems soon to have come home to the 

 minds of farmers ; and now 16 or 20 bushels of bone- 

 <lust, or at the most 3 quarters, is the quantity gene- 

 rally applied. Within the last year or two, how- 

 ever, it has come to be known that this quantity may 

 pe diminished to an extraordinary extent, without 

 interfering with the efficiency of the manure. The 

 iact so well known that bone-dust has a powerful in- 

 nuence on the grain crop succeeding the Turnips to 

 wmen it is generally applied, showed that in the con- 

 ation in which it was ordinarily applied, it was not 

 all at on rp avail «ki n J ^ tl , ' .. i ,. 



*u « once available as vegetable food; and by alter- 

 ing trie mode of this application— by presenting it as 



arKn ko i u ***"' " I1C 1U WIUCU ll uwi ue iiumtruiately 

 aw? y P ' U is found that a ver y much smaller 



-o •— * »'wuc or 



Mr. Lawes does 



snlnw WeS i- in his superphosphate of lime in a 

 wiuDie condition, one in which it can be immediatelv 



SL L possesses the same influence as the large 

 ffrrvLtK r er y ears in causing luxuriance in the 

 growth of one year's crop. 



blishedl^t{r f °K ? - Seems - now t0 be P rett y wel1 esta_ 



land— the f u ^ mixture over an acre of 



*hus be n«i Ct i as % ood a cr0 P of Turni P s ma y 



applied in th ?* from 20 bushels of bone-dust 



known Of 0rcllnar y wav cannot be too widely 



tna t this resuIt 0Ur if - WC do not ple(lge ourselves t0 lt 

 from the nvi i ln a ^ cases be experienced, but 



subject \t J Uence w e have already published on the 

 finances 'rl ?? mT * that !t ma y in ordinary circum- 



Belore d 'pT abl ? e *V*^ 



Particulailv i A" 8 theattenti <>n of our readers more 

 tinu ation of n° sub J ecf , we may just state, in con- 

 a manure 30 remarks on the use of bone-dust as 

 P e *red to iliir 0r years a S°» that farmers then ap- 

 ^^r??^?!! 1 ^^ ™>w about the 



y Report. foFD^btel^dii^^ 



most suitable form in which it should be applied. 

 There were those then who advocated the use of 

 fresh bones ; some thought they should be boiled, 

 and others again would burn them. Though the 

 conversion of the insoluble phosphate of lime, which 

 is probably the 77105/ valuable ingredient of bones, into 

 the soluble superphosphate by means of sulphuric 

 acid is certainly the most interesting question con- 

 nected with our present subject; yet we may just 

 give the following table in illustration of the question 

 of burnt versus unburnt bones. It is extracted by 

 Mr. Hannam's permission, and in fact at his sugges- 

 tion, from the truly valuable report of his experi- 

 ments on manure, which was published in a late No. 

 of the " Highland Society's Transactions." The crop 

 on which the experiments in these cares were made 

 was Turnips. 



Crop per Acre. 



JNothing. 



Crushed 

 Bones. 



tns. cwt. tns. cwt. 



Land manured evenly at the rate 

 of 6 loads per acre, and bone- 

 dust on certain parts, at 2 qrs. 

 per acre 



Land unmanured, except with - ] 

 bone-dust on certain parts, at V 

 2 qrs. per acre . . .J 



Land manured evenly at the rate*\ 

 of 6 loads per acre, and bone- \ 

 dust on certain parts, at 2 qrs. f 

 per acre J 



Land unmanured, except with") 

 bone-dust on certain parts, at S- 

 2 qrs. per acre . . . . ) 



16 



16 



15 



Burnt 



Bones. 



tns. cwt. 



as commonly recommended; the stirring is con- 

 tinued for about three minutes, and the material is 

 then thrown out. With four common farm -labourers 

 and two pans, I have mixed two tons in one day, the 

 larger the heap that is made the more perfect the 

 decomposition, as the heap remains intensely hot for 

 a long time. It is necessary to spread the super- 

 phosphate out to the air for a few days, that it may 

 become dry. The great mechanical difficulty of 

 reducing unburnt bones to a very fine powder renders 

 the formation of superphosphate of lime from them 

 very difficult, but common bone-dust in a pure state 

 (that which is sold often contains one-third of lime) 

 may be decomposed by boiling it in a leaden pan 

 with half its weight of sulphuric acid and twice its 

 weight of water, which may afterwards be dried up 

 with sawdust or clay-ashes." 



is 



25 



18 



17 



11 



With one exception these results are quite what 

 any one would expect from a consideration of the 

 composition of bones. It is impossible, from what we 

 know of the value of animal manures, to suppose that 

 the grease or jelly which exists in fresh bones pos- 

 sesses no fertilising influence. By its decomposition 

 it yields ammonia, which is well-known to be a power- 

 ful manure, and all the advantage of this is lost by 

 those who burn bones before applying them to the 

 land. 



We have but little new evidence to adduce on 

 the value of sulphuric acid and bones as a manure. 

 The experiments of the Duke of Richmond, of Mr. 

 M' William and Dr. Manson of the Moray Farmers' 

 Club; of Mr. Lawes of St. Alban's; and Mr. Purchas, 

 of Chepstow, may be found detailed in previous 

 Numbers of this Gazette; and they are quite con- 

 clusive. We add some of Mr. Hannam's, extracted 

 from the " Highland Society's Transactions " :— 



Tcrnips per Acre. 

 Manure. 



Bone-dust, crushed, 2 qrs 



Do. burnt, 2 qrs 



Bones, 1 qr., andW2 stones of sulphuric acid 



Crop. 

 Tons. Cwt. 



, 15 3 



9 

 13 7 



Bones (burnt), 1 qr., and 6 stones of sulphuric acid . 17 7 



Farm manure, 15 loads 22 10 



Guano, 2£ cwt ..220 



Nothing ,,,70 



This agrees pretty well with what has been already 

 published on the subject, in pointing out bones 

 treated in this way to be a cheap and valuable 

 manure for Turnips, and we hope that it will be 

 tried very extensively this year. 



For the information of several who have applied to 

 us on the subject, we extract from Mr. Purchas's 

 report to the Monmouth Farmers' Club, the follow- 

 ing directions for manufacturing the superphosphate 

 of lime : — 



" For one acre. — Place a tub that will hold at least 

 60 gallons near the water intended to be used, put 

 into the tub 3 J bushels (28 gallons) of fine bone dust, 

 then put 80 lbs. (about 4 gallons) of sulphuric acid 

 (oil of vitriol) to the bones, adding 24 gallons of 

 water, total about 56 gallons; mix the whole by 

 stirring, which do two or three times in the first 

 twelve hours, and before using it the mixture is to 

 be left for twenty-four hours. Care should be 

 taken not to mix more acid and bones in the tub 

 than will be used each day, for about one- fifteenth 

 part evaporates the first twenty-four hours. A 

 water-cart holding 200 gallons was nearly filled with 

 water, then about 14 gallons of the mixture out of 

 the tub was put into it, the cart filled up with water 

 and the whole well stirred. The quantity put upon 

 an acre was four cart loads, or 800 gallons. The 

 Duke of Richmond put upon an acre only 400 gal- 

 lons of water and 2 bushels of bones. His grace's 

 trial was most successful? 



- And we republish Mr. Lawes's directions on the 

 same subject ; they appear to be suitable more espe- 

 cially for those who do not wish to apply the manure 

 in solution. 



" Calcined bones reduced by grinding to a very 

 fine powder, are to be placed in an iron pan with an 

 equal weight of water (a cast-iron trough, such as 

 are sold for holding water for cattle, will do) ; a man 

 with a spade must mix the bone with the water until 

 every portion is wet : while the man is stirring an 

 assistant empties at once into the pan sulphuric acid, 

 60 parts by weight to every 100 parts of bone ; the 

 acid is poured in at once, and not in a thin stream, 



ON BLACK HORSEPONDS.— No. IV. 



It is generally believed that the value of all crops 

 chiefly depends on the amount of animal nourishment 

 which they contain, — in the shape of gluten in cereal 

 crops, in that of legumen in leguminous crops, and of 

 vegetable albumen in root-crops. Now, these ingredients 

 differ in composition from those making up the bulk of 

 the vegetable, inasmuch as they contain nitrogen as one 

 of their elemeut?, while the latter, viz. starch, gum, and 

 sugar, do not. These (the starch, gum, &c.) being com- 

 posed of carbon and water, are evidently intended to 

 supply carbon to the lungs, where, by a singular process 

 of animal combustion going on through the instru- 

 mentality of respiration, they are consumed as the means 

 of keeping up the animal heat. This, then, is the use of 

 starch, gum, &c, to the animal economy. But to the 

 formation of muscle, flesh, and blood, nitrogen is indis- 

 pensable. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the 

 vegetable principles of gluten, &c, are the only flesh- 

 forming principles, in fact, the true substantial nourish- 

 ment of the animal ; and it should, therefore, be the 

 object of every practical man to increase these princi- 

 ples in his crops by every means in his power. This 

 can only be accomplished by the use of such manures as 

 are capable of yielding ammonia ; and on the greater or less 

 abundance with which it is supplied to the crops, wifhin 

 certain limits, will depend their nutritive properties. 

 Hence, we find a marked increase of the gluten in Wheat 

 to follow the use of such manures as are capable of yield- 

 ing ammonia by their decomposition, as flesh, blood, and 

 urine ; or those manures which contain the salts of ammo- 

 nia ready formed in them, as guano. But of all the fer- 

 tilisers within the reach of the farmer, capable of yield- 

 ing ammonia, the urea of the urine is the most valu- 

 able ; and if, as Liebig states, " with every pound of 

 urine a pound of Wheat might be produced, and 

 with every pound of ammonia which evaporates a loss of 

 CO pounds of Corn is sustained," what must be the 

 number of bushels of Wheat annually lost by the farmer 

 who allows the thousands of pounds of urine voided by 

 his cattle and horses to undergo spontaneous decom- 

 position, without an effort to avail himself of its benefitS| 

 or to fix the ammonia generated by the decomposition 

 of the urea it contains? But plants not only re- 

 quire nitrogen for their sustenance, to assist in the 

 formation of gluten and vegetable albumen, they also 

 require a certain quantity of several inorganic sub- 

 stances, without which no plant can perfect its seed ; 

 these are potash, soda, lime, magnesia, sulphuric acid, 

 phosphoric acid, and chlorine. Now, these substances 

 are precisely those which are found in the solid matter 

 contained in the urine of cattle, and in such a state as 

 is best adapted to be taken into the texture of plants, 

 and appropriated as food. Of this matter thousands of 

 tons are annually allowed to run to waste as if it were 

 not only useless, but a positive injury to the land; 

 while the farmer goes, 4t cash in hand," to purchase 

 guano to apply to his crops, the very essence of which 

 he daily wastes with the most perfect indifference ; yet, 

 every ton of which is at least equal in fertilising effect, 

 and, consequentlv, also in money value, to the ton of 

 guano purchased at 1 0/., and for which he often pays much 

 more, owing to the impurities which it so frequently 



contains. ' 



To place this part of the subject in a clearer light, and 

 show the practical man that these inorganic substances, 

 which he allows to find their way into his horsepond, are 

 really of value to plants, are found in their texture, 

 and in fact essential to their growth, I will take 

 the amount of inorganic substances contained in the 

 crops, removed in a four year rotation, of Turnips (bulbs 

 onlv), Barley, Clover and Rye-grass, and Wheat, as 

 given by Professor Johnston. Let the crop of Turnips 

 amount to 25 tons of roots per acre ; of Barley, 38 

 bushels; of Clover and Rye-grass, of each one ton of 

 hay ; and of W r heat, 25 bushels. Then we have from the 

 entire rotation in pounds : — 



Potash 

 Soda . 

 Lime . 

 Magnesia . 

 Alumina • 

 Silica . 



Sulphuric acid 

 Phosphoric acid 

 Chlorine . 



£9 



145.5 

 64.3 

 45.8 

 15 5 

 2.2 

 23.6 

 49.0 

 22.4 

 14.5 



Barley. 



c 



"5 



<- 



5.6 

 5.8 

 21 

 3.6 

 0.5 

 23.6 



I.S 

 4.9 









4.5 

 1.1 



12.9 

 1.8 

 3.4 



90.0 

 2.8 



a 



o > 



PS c 



5 



PS 



I Wheat. 



>>% 



V 



45.0 28 5 



12.0 90 



63.0 16.5 



7-5 2.0 



0.3 0.8 



8.0 \§K* 



,0 c> 8.0 



15.0 



8.0 



0.6 

 0.1 



0.8 

 0-6 

 0.2 



233.0 



go. 6 



U9.o 



1.0/ 32.9 



2.;! 10.3 



S6J»; 299-2 

 l.Ol 71 8 

 5.0| 51.5 

 0.9 25.6 



970.9 



