Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, and the Household Arts. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. I Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts of 

 — Xenophon. | the State. — Sully. 



FRANK. G. RUFFIN, Editor. 



F. G. RUFFIN & N. AUGUST, Prop'rs. 



Vol. XVII. 



RICHMOND, VA., MAY, 1857. 



No. 5. 



For the Southern Planter. 



Superphosphate of Lime. 



Mr. Editor : — The fact that so many 

 establishments for the manufacture of su- 

 perphosphate of lime, are springing up in 

 and around nearly all of our large cities, 

 Richmond included, indicates very clearly 

 that there must be a very considerable 

 and rapidly increasing demand for this 

 manure — a demand which, there is rea- 

 son to believe, has not arisen solely on 

 account^'of the intrinsic merits of the ar- 

 ticle, but from the high price of guano, 

 the extraordinary virtues ascribed to su- 

 perphosphates by manufacturers and ma- 

 nure venders, and several other causes. 

 It may not be out of place, therefore, to 

 call the attention of farmers to the com- 

 position and properties of bones and su- 

 perphosphate of lime, explain the differ- 

 ences between them, to show how the 

 superphosphate ought to be prepared to 

 ensure its good quality, what farmers have 

 a right to expect in the' purchase of it, 

 &c, and, what is of more practical im- 

 portance to them, to show that there is no 

 manure of more uncertain composition, 

 and no other which falls so far short of 

 what it professes to be, as this does in 

 nine cases out of ten. I have given the 

 17 



subject very considerable attention, and 

 propose in the present paper, to discuss 

 it so far as it is a chemical question. I 

 have nothing to say, however, in relation 

 to the value of superphosphate of lime, 

 for this or that particular crop, or how it 

 ought to rank as a fertilizer ; but leave 

 these questions to be answered by the 

 farmer after he has had time and oppor- 

 tunities for thoroughly testing its value. 



The bones of animals are composed of 

 moisture, animal matter, phosphate and 

 carbonate of lime, and very small quanti- 

 ties of chlorides and sulphates. The bones 

 of different animals differ somewhat in the 

 proportion of the various ingredients, and 

 no analysis could be given which would 

 apply to all cases ; the following, how- 

 ever, will pretty fairly represent 

 composition : 



Water and animal matter, 

 Phosphate of lime with a little mag 



nesia, 

 Carbonate of lime, 

 Chlorides and sulphates, 



their 



48 



46 

 4 

 2 



100 



Their value as manure depends mainly 

 upon the phosphate of lime, and the amo- 

 nia which results from the decomposition 



