52 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Feb. 
a few days, according to the earliness or lateness of the 
season, may be easily made afterwards. On such a 
book as this, notes may be made with the progress of 
the season, thus perfecting the plan for a second year. 
A few minutes daily devoted in this way, will accom¬ 
plish much that is valuable for the farmer, and pre¬ 
vent a great deal of anxiety and confusion. 
Bone Manure. 
Messrs. Editors —You have mentioned bones be¬ 
ing valuable for land. I should like it if you would 
explain the best mode of preparing them, and the mode 
and quantity of using them. Jesse Eastman. Lan- 
daff, N. H. 
Bones contain highly fertilizing matter in the form 
of gelatine and phosphate of lime. But the great diffi¬ 
culty is to reduce them to a state so as to act, for an 
unbroken bone will not yield a hundredth part of its 
materials to a single crop. Even ante-diluvian skele¬ 
tons, which have laid thousands of years in the earth, 
have been found to have parted with only one half of 
their gelatine, and most of their phosphate remains. 
Hence the importance of grinding finely. Bones crack¬ 
ed into fragments the size of peas, will be many years 
in the soil before they become disintegrated and wholly 
efficacious. 
1. Ground bones operate best when applied in au¬ 
tumn, as frost and moisture assist in bringing them to 
the best acting state. If applied late in spring, and 
especially if the season be dry, they will not probably 
be of any use the first year. On heavy soils, about six 
to twelve hundred pounds may be applied per aere; on 
light soils, about one half this quantity. The best way, 
however* is to compost them with stable manure, the 
efficacy of which they assist by the additional supply 
of nitrogen and phosphate afforded by the bones, which, 
being deficient in alcaline shits, are supplied from the 
manure. The addition of ashes* for this reason, is ad¬ 
vantageous. 
2. By steaming bones? under a high pressure, the 
gelatine is mostly withdrawn* and the remaining soil, 
when cold, becomes very brittle* and are easily ground to 
a fine powder. This preparation is very efficacious* but 
the difficulty in adopting it consists in the required 
steam apparatus. A less quantity of this preparation 
is needed per aere. 
3. Dissolving in acid, has become the most approved 
method for ordinary use, and requires in order to be 
well done that the bones should be previously ground. 
If only broken, the acid dissolves the outer portions, 
leaving the most of the fragments untouched, and a 
part of the acid be ? ng consequently uneombined, proves 
injurious to vegetables, unless very cautiously applied. 
The best way to use the acid, 'according to Stoekhardt, 
is to form a mound of a mixture of finely pulverized 
earth and sifted ashes, of such a size that a cavity (or 
crater) in it may contain one hundred pounds of bone 
dust. This mound must be beaten very compactly on 
the outside with a shovel. Sift out the finer bones, and 
place them one side, and place the coarser in a cavity. 
Sprinkle them, stirring and shovelling all the while, 
with 3 quarts of water, and then add gradually eleven 
pounds of sulphuric acid, still continuing the stirring 
and shoveling. The next day, add a like quantity of 
water and acid, in the same manner, and afterwards 
add the finer hones, previously laid aside, and when the 
action of the acid is completed, mix the bones, earth 
and ashes well together. From two to four hnndred 
pounds of bones thus prepared are enough for an aere. 
As there are only 22 lbs. of acid to 100 of bones, by this 
process, there will be little chance for any free acid re¬ 
maining. We would recommend that even this com¬ 
post be mixed with common manure for application to 
land. —— 
Drawing Manure in Winter. 
Will manure carted into the field and left in small 
heaps during the winter, be deteriorated by the freez¬ 
ing and thawing processes to which it will be subjected 
in this climate? I should like to draw out the manure 
I intend to top-dress my meadow's with next season, 
whilst I can drive over my lots without cutting up the 
surface, and should likewise wish to spread it as soon 
as it thaws out, in March or April, before the the last 
snows cease to fall, if I can do so without losing the 
fertilizing principles by the exposition produced in freez¬ 
ing. If I can do this work now, it will anticipate by 
so much the labor of spring, when I shall be pressed for 
time. In this particular instance my manure heap is 
a compost of muck with the accumulations of the barn¬ 
yard ; but I should like your judgment in regard to 
any and all manures. S. Syracuse , Dec., 1853. 
Fermenting and evaporating kinds of manures, that 
is* all fresh animal droppings, are most economically 
applied to grass lands late in fall, because every rain 
or thaw that occurs carries, the fertilizing parts down 
into the soil, so far as this descending process can - take 
plaee. If it has not been applied and spread in au¬ 
tumn, the next best time is very early in the spring. 
If put on after the arrival of warm and dry weather, it 
will be of very little use. 
Manure may be drawn in winter with great advan¬ 
tage, and some good farmers prefer spreading it at once, 
believing the injury by exposure when frozen to be 
quite small and less than the loss by fermenting in heaps. 
If however the heaps are small, there will be very little 
fermentation. Ice, snow, and all frozen matters com¬ 
posed largely of water, will evaporate, even many de¬ 
grees below freezing, but it is questionable whether 
any valuable amount will pass off in this way. 
Where compost is used, if it contains a due propor¬ 
tion of loam and peat, no loss can occur by either mode 
of treatment or by fall or spring application, as fermen- 
taiton has already taken place, or else the volatile parts 
have been secured by absorption. 
The Barley Crop of this State. —The State 
Register of this city, says that the sales of Canal Bar¬ 
ley in this market for the season just closed amount to 
1,761,100 bushels. Thi3 includes only the sales of the 
crop of 1853. The average price is a fraction under 
81£c.; the highest price paid was 88c. ‘ r the lowest 
70c., and the greatest quantity sold at one price was 
299,500 bushels at 84c. The aggregate value of the 
1,761,100 bushels was $1,432,575. If the sales report¬ 
ed in the early weeks of canal navigation are in¬ 
cluded, which were at prices ranging from 66c. to 
72Ac., the aggregate sales reported will be 1,836,500 
bushels, and the average price will be a fraction over 
80£ cents. The aggregate bushels is $1,481,341. 
