The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1535 
Handling Bones on Farm 
Would bones, crushed fine, make a de¬ 
sirable fertilizer, or must they be treated 
in some way? What is the steamed bone- 
meal, and how made? One fertilizer 
agent told me there was not much in 
bonemeal, as it had been used in sugar 
factories first, and had lost a part of its 
strength. This question has been dis¬ 
cussed by several farmers: Whether to 
grind bones and make their own fertil¬ 
izer, as no one around here puts them to 
any use. h. w. d. 
If the bones could be crushed fine they 
would make a good fertilizer, supplying 
nitrogen and phosphoric acid and lime. 
It would be very difficult to crush them 
properly with such machinery as is usu¬ 
ally found on the farm. The fertilizer 
manufacturers employ very powerful ma¬ 
chinery to do this work. Steamed bone 
is the crushed bone submitted to a power¬ 
ful steam pressure. This makes the bone 
somewhat more soluble and drives off the 
fat. We have known farmers who boiled 
the bones, making a thick soup for hogs 
by adding cormneal or ground oats. The 
boiled bones were then broken up with a 
sledge and ground or crushed. The soft 
bones may be handled in this way, but 
the skulls and leg bones are too hard to 
be broken easily. The manufacturers use 
sulphuric acid to “cut” or dissolve the 
bones, but this is too dangerous for most 
men to handle. The bones can be burned 
in a bonfire of waste wood. This turns 
them to ashes and saves the phosphorus 
and lime, but loses the nitrogen. The 
agent probably referred to bone black or 
bone charcoal. The bones are burned to 
a charcoal and this is used in sugar re¬ 
fineries. After it serves its purpose 
there this bone black is treated with sul¬ 
phuric acid and gives a good grade of 
phosphoric acid. If you can get bones at 
a fair price it will pay you to buy all you 
can find. You can partly crush the softer 
bones and burn the hard ones. 
Propagation of 
Rhododendron 
Will you tell me how the Rhododen¬ 
dron is propagated? Can I take a slip 
of it and root it in a pot of loam Kept 
very wet this time of year in the house. 
Mansfield, Mass. E - G - B * 
It is not probable that you can root 
a Rhododendron cutting in the manner 
described, though some of the tender va¬ 
rieties may be rooted by the use of cut¬ 
tings of young shoots, removed wuth a 
heel of the old wood. Such cuttings are 
set in sand, in close frames with bottom 
heat. Seeds, layers and grafts are com¬ 
monly used for propagation. Perhaps 
your easiest plan would be to try root¬ 
ing a layer, if there is a branch long 
enough to bend down to the ground. 
Bend it down, leaving a tip six or eight 
inches free. At the point where it 
touches the ground cut a little “heel 
in the bark. Peg it down to the ground 
at this point, and put a little earth over 
it where pegged down. Use ripe wood 
of a year’s growth. Next Spring ex¬ 
amine for roots; it may not form a bunch 
of roots the first season. The tip of the 
branch may then be separated from the 
parent, with the roots attached, and set 
as a separate plant. 
Care of Aspidistra 
Will you advise proper care for As¬ 
pidistra plants—house plants kept in¬ 
doors year around? In Winter have very 
little sun; north window in room aver¬ 
aging 55 degrees. Do they need much 
sun to throw out new leaves, and much 
fertilizer? My plant is watered but very 
little in cold weather, as I expect plant 
to be rather dormant in Winter, but same 
throws out but very few leaves in warm 
weather. It has same exposure year 
round. E - B - 
While the Aspidistra will endure much 
neglect, and will continue to live in dark, 
drafty or dusty locations, it does not be¬ 
come dormant in Winter. Under con¬ 
genial conditions, with warmth and light, 
dt requires generous watering, and must 
not be dried out even in the cool and 
shady location described. As. this plant 
makes very little growth it is probably 
crowded in the pot, and suffering from 
starvation. Normally it makes a great 
mass of fleshy roots, and if not divided 
the pot becomes packed so solidly with 
them that water connot pass through 
the mass. If there is room in the pot 
for a topdressing of rich loam, with a 
teaspoonful of dried blood mixed in, this 
may be helpful, but we would . advise 
dividing and repotting next Spring, in 
fairly rich soil with abundance of drain¬ 
age material in the bottom of the pot. 
In very rich soil the variegated form has 
a tendency to lose its stripes. In a light 
but not necessarily sunny place, with 
regular and sufficient water supply, there 
should be free growth next Summer. We 
keep our Aspidistras outside in Sum¬ 
mer, and in a sunny living-room through 
the Winter, and they continue to make 
new leaves all the year round. 
Fall spraying with Scalecide controls 
psylla and peach leaf curl. Spring ap¬ 
plication controls aphis, pear thrips, 
leaf miner, case bearer and leaf rol¬ 
ler. Either fall or spring spraying with 
Scalecide controls scale, bud moth, 
European red mite, fungus or blight 
cankers from which are spread fire 
blight, collar rot and root rot. And 
in addition, year after year use of 
Scalecide invigorates the trees. Furth¬ 
ermore, Scalecide is pleasant to use. 
$11.50 Delivered East of the Mississippi 
Drum $2 Extra — Returnable 
Big Volume Lowers Cost 
The volume of Scalecide used 
last year would spray enough 
bearing apple trees, set 40 feet 
apart, to bound the United 
States and make eight rows 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
This big production makes pos¬ 
sible the low price at which 
you can buy Scalecide. The 
new 15-gallon drum, costing 
$11.50, contains enough Scale¬ 
cide to spray as many trees, until 
they drip, as one 50-gallon bar¬ 
rel of lime-sulphur, applied 
with equal thoroughness. And 
it requires only half the time 
and labor to apply Scalecide. 
Scalecide is not an oil emulsion 
but a miscible oil that mixes 
instantly with cold water and 
stays mixed without agitation. 
Send today for new booklet, “Economy of Scalecide” — it's free. 
B. G. PRATT CO. Department 16. 50 Church St. NEW YORK, N. Y. 
Its continuous use for the past 
twenty years throughout the 
fruit-growing world has proven 
that it will not do injury such 
as has been so often attributed 
to oil emulsions and improp¬ 
erly made miscible oils. 
On every tree, shrub and vine 
that sheds its leaves in winter— 
use Scalecide as your dormant 
spray. Then you will know 
that you have done all that 
can be done at that particular 
time by any dormant spray or 
combination of sprays. If your 
dealer doesn’t carry Scalecide, 
show him this advertisement 
—or order direct from us. 
Send $11.50 plus $2 for each 
15-gallon drum. The $2 will be 
refunded upon return of drum. 
Carboleine 
% 
A miscible oil—has 
been in use longer 
than any oil spray on 
the market, except 
Scalecide, and kills 
scale as well as Scale¬ 
cide even at a weaker 
dilution—and known 
to be safe. While it 
will not do all that 
Scalecide will do, 
neither will any 
otherdormantspray. 
Price: $20 per 50- 
gallon barrel includ¬ 
ing container, f.o.b. 
Hackensack, N. J. 
Oil Emulsions 
While oil emulsions 
have not yet proven 
their value and safe¬ 
ty, and we do not 
recommend them, 
we will supply them 
to you of a quality 
and stability not ob¬ 
tainable elsewhere. 
If you insist on using 
oil emulsions, let us 
quote you prices. 
f 
m j „ 
Wj^THE complete dormant spray^Y 
RHODES DOUBLE CUT 
PRUNING SHEAR 
RHODES MFG. CO 
patented 
329 SO. DIVISION AVE., GRAND RAPIDS. MICH 
r T'HE only 
* pruner 
made that cuts 
from both sides of 
the limb and does not 
bruise the bark. Made in 
all styles and sizes. All 
shears delivered free 
to your door. 
Write for 
circular and 
prices. 
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A NEW BOOK 
This book is written in three 
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By JOHN J. DILLON 
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The Rural New-Yorker, 333 West 30th St., New York 
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IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIMIII 
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