276 Home Manufacture of Portable Manures. 
sprinkle well the skin with salt on the fleshy side to preserve it 
from putrefaction, then roll it up, when it may be kept till a 
convenient opportunity for disposal to a tanner. The carcase is 
then cut up into pieces of J cwt., put into a boiler with water and 
boiled for 28 hours, by which time the flesh will have so softened 
that the bones can be taken out. Before doing so, whatever 
grease there is will float on the top ; this, when skimmed off, 
will be found superior to any other grease for lubricating ma- 
chinery and cart-axles. The boiled flesh may be cut up and 
mixed with the farmyard manure ; and the liquor or soup might 
be used to ferment bones, or run into the liquid-manure tank. 
The quantity of each ingredient depends entirely upon the size 
and condition of the animals. Taking an ordinary-sized farm- 
horse, in working condition, weighing 15 or 16 cwt., the follow- 
ing may be assumed as the approximate value of the products : — 
£. s. d. 
Skin, present value 10s. 6(/., average .. .. 0 8 6- 
Grease, 28 lbs., at M. per lb 0 14 0 
Bones, dry, 56 lbs., at 4s. j^er cwt 0 2 0 
Flesh and liquor for manure 0 2 6 
17 0 
(84 lbs. is the greatest weight of dry bones the largest horse will yield.) 
We cannot too forcibly impress upon farmers the importance 
of being assured that the articles they purchase are genuine ; the 
absolute necessity, therefore, of buying only by a guaranteed 
analysis, and of proving the correctness of the same by a check 
analysis of a sample taken from the bulk delivered. By this 
means any difference in value may be adjusted before application, 
and disputes avoided ; for it is hopeless to look for redress after- 
wards, on the ground that the results did not come up to expecta- 
tion. Makers of chemical manures buy the materials they use 
by analysis : were this precaution neglected, the manufacture of 
manures would be a thing of chance instead of calculation and 
science. Why should farmers be less alive to their own interests ? 
The trouble is little and expense as nothing compared with the 
interests at stake. 
There are, however, some farmers who expect too much from 
the use of portable manures. It is absurd to suppose that these 
alone can keep the land at all times in good heart ; they ought 
rather to be employed as stimulants or auxiliaries, than as a 
complete substitute for farmyard manure. 
11th, February, 18G1. 
