168 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
May. 
is therefore much better for plants, just as bone 
dust is. This dust is also easily dissolved by acids 
if necessary, a much smaller quantity effecting the 
solution, than is required for the whole bones. 
I have heard in one or two cases, complaints that 
this manure, and other forms of bones, injured the 
land after a time, but found on inquiry that the evil 
was produced not by using bones alone, but by not 
using at the same time other manures. Phosphoric 
acid and lime are valuable constituents of a soil, 
but they are not all that it needs. The farmer who 
cultivates judiciously will supply everything that is 
necessary, and not attempt to keep up his soil by 
giving it two or three only, of the numerous sub¬ 
stances required. If farm yard manure in moderate 
quantity, had been applied with the bones, no injuri¬ 
ous results would have been experienced. 
Still another form of manure, which resembles 
bones in its composition, is horn. This, according 
to some examinations which I have made, contains 
when dried, about 40 per cent of phosphates. Horns 
are nearly indestructible in the soil, and cannot 
well be ground in mills, from their softness and 
toughness. The proper way to treat them would be 
with sulphuric acid, or to powder them by the steam¬ 
ing process mentioned above. In'either case, they 
would make a most valuable manure. Near manyfac- 
tories, there are large quantities of horn shavings to 
be had, and they should always be secured at once 
by the farmer as an article of much value. Their 
decomposition in the soil is quite slow, but their ef¬ 
fect is powerful, and of course quite lasting. 
For fear of surfeiting my readers with various 
forms of bones, and the virtues of phosphates, I 
will now pass on to some other class of fertilizing 
substances, that are suffering under unmerited neg¬ 
lect. Unfortunately, these are not difficult to find 
in almost any part of the country. 
One of the manures most highly valued in Eng¬ 
land and in Europe, is found in hair and wool. 
These are of similar composition. They contain 
but little a:sh, only from one and a-half to about two 
per cent. This ash consists chief! of chlorides and 
sulphates of potash and soda, with small quantities 
of phosphates. Sulphur is a substance which ex¬ 
ists quite largely in these, parts of the animal, 
amounting usually to about five per cent. 
From the small proportion of ash, it is evident 
that we must look to the organic part, in explaining 
the remarkable effect which these manures produce 
under nearly all circumstances. On analysis of this 
part, it is found to be particularly rich in nitrogen, 
containing about 17 per cent. This is sufficient at 
once to determine its value. Much of our ordinary 
farm-yard manure does not in its whole bulk, con¬ 
tain more than three or four per cent of this body, 
and yet it has a great influence in enriching the 
soil. 
How much more powerful must this class of ma¬ 
nures be, in which is four or five times as much ni¬ 
trogen as in barn-yard manure. The farmer is al¬ 
ways safe in concluding that a substance, in whose 
composition an analysis shows more than eight or 
ten per cent of nitrogen, is a very valuable and 
concentrated manure; always provided of course, 
that it contains nothing beside likely to be actually 
hurtful in its nature. When the per centage of ni¬ 
trogen ranges as high as in the present case, about 
17 per cent, he may rest assured that he has found 
a manure of the most powerful description at pre¬ 
sent known. 
So far as my information extends, hair, refuse 
wool, and all substances of a like nature, are al¬ 
most entirely neglected in this country. I have 
known of many cases, where they were completely 
thrown away. In the neighborhood of woolen fac¬ 
tories, for instance, all the refuse and waste of the 
mills is of great value as manure. Besides the na¬ 
tural constituents of wool, it is saturated with oil 
and grease, which increase its fertilizing power. 
This refuse does not of course contain as much ni¬ 
trogen as the clean wool, or hair would do, owing 
to its admixture with dirt and other foreign substan¬ 
ces. Some recent analyses by Prof. Way, of the 
Royal Ag! Society, show that in the better samples, 
there is ten or eleven per cent. These cost in Eng¬ 
land from $15 to $20 and sometimes $30 per ton, 
and are found a very profitable application at such 
prices. The demand there is so large and constant , 
that it has led to adulteration in various ways; linen 
and cotton rags, or clippings, among other things, 
are mixed with the woolen. Prof. Way found that 
some samples which appeared well to the eye, were 
really not worth more than from $4 to $8 per ton, 
in plaee of $20 or $30. 
Woolen rags decompose very slowly in the ground, 
and for this reason, disappointment is experienced 
in their effect on crops that require a speedy and 
powerful fertilizing action. They are most used for 
the winter grains, and for other crops that occupv a 
long period in their growth. The hop-growers of 
Kent and other counties of England, rely on woolen 
waste, and rags, as one of their most important 
manures; they bury it under the hop vines, and the 
influence continues in a most efficacious manner, for 
a number of years. 
In some situations, hair of various kinds may bo 
procured, and should always be carefully preserved; 
its composition being, as noticed above, the same as 
that of wool. I noticed in North Lincolnshire, Eng¬ 
land, an application of what they called cony dust. 
In clipping rabbit skins to obtain the fur for hat bo¬ 
dies, there is much waste of hair, and this with 
clippings from the skins, is swept up and sold at a 
high price, under the above name. It is used for 
turneps on light soils, at the rate of from 10 t,o 20 
bushels per acre, and produces excellent crops. In 
the instance that I saw, they were dropping it in the 
bottom of drills. 
Where the refuse hair from tanneries could be ob¬ 
tained, it would also be an excellent manure; the 
lime which is usually mixed with it adds to its value, 
though making it decompose much more rapidly. 
I have now, perhaps, said enough to call atten¬ 
tion to this class of manures, and to convince farm¬ 
ers of their efficacy. They are not within the reach 
of all, and those who are in a position to obtain any 
of them, will, if they understand their own interest, 
take steps to prevent any further waste, by securing 
as much as possible for the enriching of their own 
fields. John P. Norton. 
®l)e ikterinarjD ©apartment. 
Kingtoone in Horses. 
Eds. Cultivator —In answer to your inquiry 
concerning ringbone, we define it to be an exostosis, 
or bony tumor, originating from a bone. It is sit- 
tuated on the small pastern, (called os corona,) be¬ 
tween the shell of the bone and the periosteum cov¬ 
ering it. Sir A. Cooper calls a tumor of this nature, 
cartilaginous exostosis of the periosteum. 11 It 
originates in a deposition of cartilage, of a very 
firm texture, and similar to that which forms the ni¬ 
dus of bone in the young subject. The periosteum 
adheres to the external surface of the swelling. 
