266 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Sept, 
Now, supposing it to be resolved into carbonic acid 
and ammonia, the quantity of gelatine contained in 100 
lbs. of dry bones is sufficient to produce upwards of 6$ 
lbs. of ammonia, as much as is present in 20 lbs. of 
sal ammoniac, or in 30 lbs. of erystalized sulphate of 
ammonia. Supposing the animal matter of the bones 
to be thus decomposed in the soil before it can be use¬ 
ful to the plant, few, I think, will question that the 
quantity of ammonia it is likely to produce would ma¬ 
terially aid the growth of the crops to which bones are 
applied. 
But I do not think this final decomposition necessary. 
The large quantity of nitrogen which the gelatine con¬ 
tains, may, I believe, be taken up by the plants without 
being previously brought into the state of ammonia. 
The gelatine being rendered soluble in the soil, may en¬ 
ter the roots and may at once minister to the growth of 
the plant, just as the gluten of the seed, being rendered 
soluble when the grain germinates, ascends with the sap, 
and feeds the young plant. It would be out of place here 
to discuss this point, or to give the reasons which in¬ 
duce me to entertain this opinion. It is sufficient for 
the practical man to know, that which ever of these 
views a man may hold, he must still grant that the ge¬ 
latine of the bone is valuable to the farmer. Whether 
its nitrogen enter into the root in the form of ammonia 
or in some compound state, it must be useful to the 
plant, and, therefore, he who advises the farmer to 
burn his bones, or would persuade him that the earthy 
part alone, or anything equivalent to this earthy part 
would alone be as useful to his land as the entire bone, 
advises him to his hurt, and would persuade him to that 
which would eventually be a source of loss. 
Mode of action of the inorganic part of 
Bones. —The composition of the incombustible part of 
bones, the bone earth, has been given above. It con¬ 
sists chiefly of phosphate of lime, with about three per 
cent each of phosphate of magnesia, carbonate of lime 
and salts of soda. 
All these substances, of which its bones consist, the 
Ox must have derived from its vegetable food. They 
must therefore be present in all fertile soils. And if a 
soil is poor in these substances, or is wholly void of 
them, that soil must be improved by the addition of 
these things. In other words, they must be invaluable 
as manures to such a soil; and hence the worth of bones 
to the practical farmer. 
Sprengel long ago reasoned thus; and he asserted that 
the indications of theory were proved by experience— 
that burned bones actually fertilized the land. 
Liebig followed him; but more boldly pronounced 
that the whole value of bones as a manure, depended 
upon, and was derived from the earthy phosphates they 
contained. 
In the Appendix to my published Lectures on Agri¬ 
cultural Chemistry and Geology , and in my Suggestions 
for Experiments in Practical Agriculture, published 
separately, I suggested with the view of settling this 
question to the satisfaction of all, that comparative ex¬ 
periments should be made with burned and unburned 
bones upon the same soils and crops, and with quanti¬ 
ties of each, which should contain equal weights of the 
earthy ingredients. 
Numerous experiments were in consequence, made 
in various parts of the Island, few of them exactly ful¬ 
filling all the conditions which were necessary to secure 
accurate comparative results. Some of them are re¬ 
corded in the Transactions of the Highland and Agricul¬ 
tural Society, others have been published in the different 
agricultural periodicals of the day. I do not quote 
any of them, for they are not all concordant, but the 
general results were these: 
a. Bones under favorable conditions, seldom fail when 
applied alone, in raising an average crop oi turneps. 
b. Burnt bones laid on alone, and in a quantity equi¬ 
valent to that of ordinary manuring with bones, don’t 
always succeed in raising an average crop of turneps. 
c. In some rare instancesagain, and upon some soils, 
burnt bones actually raised a larger crop of turneps 
than an equivalent weight of unburned bones. 
Burned bones therefore, as theory indicates, are use¬ 
ful to the land. But the employment of unburned bones 
is the safer and surer. This greater security must 
arise from the organic matter they contain, and there¬ 
fore this organic matter cannot be without its use. 
Therefore, also> an artificial mixture, w'hieh contains 
nothing equivalent to this organic matter, can never be 
made to perform all the functions of bones. If the soil 
already contains a sufficiency of organic matter—or if 
this be added in the form of farm yard or other similar 
manure-—then burned bones, or artificial mixtures of a 
similar kind, will be sufficient to produce the usual ef¬ 
fects of bones. But if organic matter be deficient, the 
entire bones will always dae the farmer’s surest reli¬ 
ance. 
The adoption of this second view, is at present op¬ 
posed by the notion which many have been led to adopt 
—that if plants can only obtain saline matter from the 
soil, they will draw organic food enough from the air. 
The ammonia of the atmosphere it is said, will give 
nitrogen enough to the plant—and thus, in the case of 
bones, their organic matter is useless, since the air will 
readily yield to the plant, what we suppose this organ¬ 
ic matter to impart to the roots. But I believe the 
minds of our thinking men will soon be disabused upon 
this point; and that in a few years, this opinion will 
have found its long resting-place, among the other sin¬ 
gular fancies, which, year by year, afford ephemeral 
occupation to the novelty-loving among our gentlemen 
farmers. 
Methods adopted for increasing the sensible 
Effect of Bones. —Without referring much to the 
effect wdiich bones might theoretically be expected to 
produce, it has been observed by practical men that 
they may be made to act more quickly and more bene¬ 
ficially by the adoption of certain previous precautions, 
such as, 
1. Reducing them to fine powder. I have already al¬ 
luded to the fact ascertained by experience that the fin¬ 
er the powder, the more immediate and the more sen¬ 
sible the effect of bones. But practical men were 
afraid to venture too far in diminishing the w’eight of 
manure, added to the soil. Bulk was considered to en¬ 
ter as an element into the fertilizing capabilties of any 
substance. Many leases even prohibit the addition of 
less than 16 or 20 bushels of bones, wffien used alone in 
raising turneps. But under the guidance of science, 
both tenants and proprietors will, by and by, learn to 
estimate more correctly what the crops really carry off, 
and what the soil therefore requires. Thus a strictly 
scientific economy will be established, and no more of 
any thing will be added to his fields than the farmer 
knows and understands to be necessary to maintain 
them in a state of permanent fertility. . 
2. Heating the bones. In some districts their action 
in hastening forw’ard the young turnep, and bring¬ 
ing it quickly into rough leaf, where it is safe from the 
attacks of the fly, is increased by laying the bones in a 
heap, and covering- them over with earth, for a week 
or ten days before they are drilled into the land. Left 
in this state, they heat, - soften, and begin to change or 
decompose; and thus, when laid in drills near the seed, 
they are ready to furnish nourishment to the young 
plant as soon as the roots first thrust themselves down¬ 
wards from the sprouting seed. 
3. Fermenting them with dung , or the same decom¬ 
position is effected and carried further by mixing the 
bones with farm yard manure, and leaving the mixture 
