NEW 
“ TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AH D MIND.” 
SERIES, 
Vol. v. 
ALBANY, SEPTEMBER, 1848. 
No. 9. 
' " . |$ 
USE OF HOMES AS MANURE. 
It is now 40 or 50 years since bones began to be used 
extensively as a manure in Europe, and within the last 
20 years immense quantities of them have been applied 
to the lands of England and Scotland, by which means 
tracts have been brought into profitable cultivation which 
were before entirely unproductive. Bones have, indeed, 
been exported in no inconsiderable quantities from our 
own country to Great Britain, and there made to yield 
the means of support to a manufacturing population, the 
products of whose labors have been returned and pur¬ 
chased by us. 
If bones can be made thus useful to the British far¬ 
mer, it is reasonable to believe that their proper appli¬ 
cation would be attended with useful results here. In 
the older settled and most populous parts of this 
country, there is a scarcity of manures, and a constant 
demand for such as can be advantageously used. Hence 
we think a knowledge of the proper preparation of 
bones and the best mode of applying them would be of 
great utility. We have on a previous occasion, alluded 
to an article on this subject, by Prof. F W. Johnston, 
published in the Transactions of the New-York State 
Agricultural Society, for 1847, and we think our read¬ 
ers will be benefitted by a careful perusal of the follow¬ 
ing extracts. In regard to the preparation of manures 
with a view of meeting the special wants of various 
soils and crops, Prof. J. thinks chemistry will by-and- 
by be able to direct; though he thinks it probable that 
“ quackery will for awhile beset the steps of the far¬ 
mer, and defective knowledge, especially of practical 
agriculture and of physiology, will lead the chemist 
astray.” Nevertheless, the result, he believes, “is sure 
of being accomplished at last.” In the mean time, he 
advises that we have 11 perfect faith in the science her¬ 
self, while we, at the same time, exercise a reasonable 
distrust towards those scientific men who profess to 
know all, and to be able to do and to explain every¬ 
thing.” . 
The essay of Prof. J. is quite elaborate, and goes 
fully into detail, in regard to the composition and uses 
of bones as manure. It is divided into ten sections, of 
which we give the following, which comprises the mosJ 
essential parts. 
Composition of Bones. —Bones differ slightly in 
composition in different animals; they vary also with 
the age-of the animal and the part of the body from 
which they are taken. The following composition of 
the bones of the cow will represent very nearly that of 
the bones which are usually applied to the land. 
Organic Animal Matter (gelatine,) ... 33| 
Phosphate of Lime, .. 55i 
Phosphate of Magnesia,.. 3 
Carbonate of Lime,. 3| 
Soda and Common Salt,. . 3| 
Chloride of Calcium,. 1 
'100 
When bones are burned in the open fire, the animal 
matter they contain—the gelatine—disappears, and the 
white hone earth alone remains. These two portions 
of the bone, the combustible or organic, and the incom¬ 
bustible or inorganic part, are equally essential to the 
fertilizing action which the bones produce. As some 
inexperienced writers have disputed this in regard to 
the organic part, it will be proper briefly to advert to 
its composition and mode of action. 
Composition and mode of action of the Organic 
part of Bones. —The gelatine of bones consist of, 
Carbon, . 50.37 
Hydrogen,. 6.33 
Nitrogen,. 17.95 
Oxygen, .. 25,35 
100 . 
It is identical in composition with horn and with 
isinglass, and is very nearly the same as hair, wool, 
and skin. It is of importance to recollect that it con¬ 
tains about 18 per cent, or one-sixth of its weight of 
nitrogen. 
That this organic part is likely to act beneficially 
as a manure, is rendered probable by the fact, that horn 
shavings are highly valued as an application to the land, 
and that the parings of hides and woolen rags brin" a 
high price in the market as manures for certain crops. 
But that it does act beneficially is proved by the suc¬ 
cess which attends its use, when separated from the 
earthy part of the bones. la Manchester, bones are 
boiled for the extraction of size (glue,) which is used 
in the stiffening of calicoes.* When the stiffening liquor 
is so exhausted as to be unfit for farther use, it has been 
applied as a liquid manure to grass lands, with the 
greatest success. There can be no reasonable question 
then that upon the organic part of bones, their benefi¬ 
cial action as a manure in some degree depends. It is 
only surprising that chemists of name should have been 
found to deny it, and that practical men should have 
so far distrusted their own experience as to have be¬ 
lieved and acted upon such an opinion. 
But how does this organic matter act ? It no doubt 
feeds the plant, but it may do this in one or other of'two 
ways. It may either be complete 1 .}’ decomposed in the 
soil, and enter the roots of plants,—as Liebig suppos¬ 
es all organic nourishment to enter—in the form of car¬ 
bonic acid and ammonia; or it may be rendered soluble 
in the soil, and may thus be taken up by the roots with¬ 
out undergoing any ultimate and thorough deeomposi-* 
