•1851. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
271 
If the charge is introduced in the morning, steam is 
kept up through the day, and the boiler left to cool off 
at night. On the succeeding morning the bones are 
taken out, and are found to he so altered and softened 
as to be readily crushed to a fine paste or powder. All 
coherence is destroyed, and the result of the process is 
thus a mass of extremely minute particles. 
This is the same object which is attained by grinding 
in a bone mill, or by dissolving with sulphuric acid. In 
the latter case there are also certain highly important 
chemical changes, but still the state of minute division 
to which the bone is reduced, is one of the chief points 
gained. This division into small particles is of advan¬ 
tage, for tlie reason that such particles are more readily 
dissolved and decomposed in the soil, and therefore more 
immediately and fully available to the plant. This 
consideration of quick action, is highly important in the 
application of manures. A small quantity of a soluble 
or finely divided fertilizer will produce a better effect 
than many times the amount of some substance equally 
rich in composition, but imperfectly soluble, or in large 
hard lumps. 
For this reason steamed bones have been found highly 
advantageous as a special manure, a comparatively small 
quantity answering the desired purpose in hastening and 
augmenting the growth of the crop. Eight or ten bushels 
per acre, have been found to produce a most remarkable 
effect, far more than equivalent to a heavy dressing with 
the ordinary farm-yard manures. In fact it is scarcely 
necessary that I should enlarge upon their properties in 
this respect, for even the most careless reader on agri¬ 
cultural subjects, must by this time have learned, that 
any form of soluble phosphates constitutes an exceed¬ 
ingly concentrated and powerful manure for all of our 
cultivated crops. Phosphates are a necessary condition 
of life and luxuriance to all or nearly all valuable plants, 
and it is obviously important to furnish them in such 
a form as shall be mostly readily available. 
Several important papers relative to steamed bones, 
have been lately published in the Journal of the Chemi- 
co-Agricultural Society of Ulster, Ireland. Some of 
these, and perhaps the most interesting, are by Mr. D. 
T. Jones, a gentleman who was studying in the labora¬ 
tory of Prof. Johnston at Edingburgh, when I was also 
a student there. He is now applying his chemical 
knowledge to the improvement of a large estate in the 
west of Ireland. 
He has made some experiments on the actual cost of 
the process, counting in the price of the bones, of the 
fuel, of labor, &c. His boiler held 7 cwt., and the re¬ 
sults were taken from five successive charges. Bone 
dust cost £6 12s. or about $30 per ton, while a ton of 
raw bones cost but £3 or about $15. The additional ex¬ 
pense of steaming, was a little less than $1. For a trifle 
more than half then, he obtained by the steaming pro¬ 
cess a ton of bones far more finely divided, and conse¬ 
quently more immediately beneficial, than, bone dust. 
Other writers give almost equally favorable results. 
The advantage of economy then, seems clearly to rest 
with this process. The question arises, however, is there 
any loss of valuable substance. With a view to settling 
this question, Mr. Jones has lately made some direct ex¬ 
periments. Dr. Yoelcker, of Cirencester Agricultural 
College, analysed some specimens of the steamed bones 
as prepared by Mr. Jones, for the express purpose of 
comparing them with bone dust. The following analy¬ 
ses give his results: 
Steamed Bones. Bone Dust. 
Organic matter,.... 28.68 . 35.2£ 
Phosphate of Lime,.... 57.73 54.00 
Carbonates and Alkalies.. 4.29 1.49 
Sand,. 9.30 9,26 
A comparison of these two analyses shows, that dur¬ 
ing the steaming a loss of organic matter has taken 
place, amounting to nearly eight per cent. This is the 
gelatine of the bone, dissolved out by the steam. This 
loss is however on’y apparent, as a moment’s reflection 
will show, that this dissolved gelatine will be found in 
Ihe water that occupies the lower part of the boiler. 
After one or two charges therefore, this water should 
be drawn off, diluted with fresh water, and applied as a 
top-dressing upon meadows or young grain. The gela¬ 
tine being a highly nitrogenous, and therefore valuable 
manure, produces an excellent effect when applied in 
this way. If not convenient to use this solution in a liquid 
form, it may be mixed with peat, ashes, vegetable 
mould, &c., or added to a compost heap. 
We thus see that every portion of the bone is preserv¬ 
ed, and made useful as a fertilizer, and that too by a 
cheap process. Some farmer in each neighborhood 
might set up such an apparatus at a trifling expense, 
and supply the whole adjoining country at reasonable 
rates. Or an association might do the same thing, each 
steaming his own collection of bones in turn. By 
managing in this way the expense to each individual 
would be quite small, and all the bones got together in 
the course of a season could soon be brought into a state 
fit for use. They are now so commonly disregarded and 
wasted, that in most situations a farmer might possess 
himself of large quantities for a merely nominal sum. 
The crushed mass of steamed bones, if left to itself 
soon heats and ferments,, causing a loss of nitrogen in the 
form of ammonia. To prevent this in cases where the 
bones are not to be used at once, it is recommended to 
add a little salt; this arrests decomposition, and is itself 
of some value as a manure. It also serves in many 
cases as a check to injurious insects, by destroying their 
grubs. Where it is desirable to add a highly ammonia- 
cal and energetically acting manure, it is only necessary 
to withhold the salt, and allow fermentation to go on 
till ammonia begins to be largely given off. The heap 
should then be mixed with gypsum, peat ashes, or char¬ 
coal dust. This applied to the soil will act as quickly 
and powerfully as guano, with the advantage of a far 
less price. From six to ten cwt. of these bones would 
produce more effect upon .most of our crops, than a 
very great application of farm-yard manure, and being 
so portable might often be employed with a very great 
saving of expense. I think that the addition of 8 or 10 
lbs. of sulphuric acid to each 100 lbs. of this manure, 
would be a still farther improvement. 
This method seems to me remarkably feasible, simple, 
effective, and cheap, and I hope that this notice may in¬ 
duce some of our more enterprising farmers to try it, 
and to make their success public. The apparatus need 
cost but little at first, and the same boiler might be em¬ 
ployed to steam food for stock in winter. Yours truly, 
John P. Noeton. 
