Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1854-04-19
G8e Qatlp Spp.
WEDNESDAY,. APRIL 10, 1854.
AGRICULTURAL.
Chenp Experiment. in Dccd1nposing


Cheap Elk experiment. iu Dec0fnpOsing
Bones.
The value of bones rs manure, ground or
pulverized and more especially dissolved and
formed into super phosphate of lime is now
Just beginning to be appreciated by practical
agricutursts in this country, as its beneficial
effects, upon root crops particularly, have
come to be known by experience.
Formerly, bones we're only regardedamon us
as a nuisance, to be thrown in the street, or
dumped into some hole, with the skeletons of
old tin pans and kettles, broken pots SIC; and the
carcasses of deftInct cows and horses were car
ried away into some lonely swamp, or distant
place in the woods; and not until they had
been made an export for several years, from
this country, by our English brethren, did it
occur to the American cultiyator that =" old
bones" could be of any possible use.
But when our good farmers began to feel
that the saving Of manurewas thing of such
vast importance, and the barn ceIar-as my
old grandfather used to say to his gardener
was their "jewel box" then they began to
look around them DR. material and leaves,
sods, ashes, pond mud, peat earth, oyster
shells, bones, &C., came in use to encourage
and aid more enlightened economical farm
ing.
Yet still a great obstacle in the way of the
more general use of bones, is the expense and
difficulty attending their pulvcrization or de-
c9lnpOsit0n. However prudent farmer
mar be, in collecting and saving bones, skele
tons and carcasses, If there is no 'b0he mill -
anywhere within dozen or twenty miles of
him, he is no better Off for manures than be
fore as it is well known that half century
NAV pass over them in an unpulverzed state,
without very much of their nutritious quail
ties being extracted even during such lapse
Of yea S. Again, the expense and laborious
care OF decomposing them, with sulphuric
acid or vitriol, especially to tie majority of
farmers, who are not accustomed to such del
icate Jobs as handling sulphuric acid, and
making nice experiments with chenicals-dis-
courage the mass of them from attempting to
go into the manufacture of =" home made SUI
per-phosphate of lime"
Hence it becomes an important inquiry,
especially as this manure is found to be so ex-
ceedingly valuable, whether some cheap and
easy way of decomposing bones cannot be dis
covered, for the benefit of the common farm.
Without abiding to other experiments, in
regard to dissolving bones in strong I've &C.,
that have been partially successful propose,
here, in as few words as possible to describe
an experiment, made on small scale, with
bones and horse manure, that may lead many
readers to still further experiments, and at
length end IN some important practical re-
suit.
An intelligent and thoughtful neighbor of
mine Mr.. Edward Willis, a soap manufacture
.er-whose father has taken great deal of in
terest for many years III agriculture especial
ly in the application Of ashes to light worn out
! lands. and from whom our great neighbor, the
| late Daniel Webster, used to procure hum
| dreds of bushels of ashes year for similar
/ w an of 10
kind Taking a quantity of bones, none Of
them perhaps larger, and most Of them small
er, than mans two fists, he made a good
layer of fresh horse dung, on which he placed
layer Of bones, then another layer OF ma
| nure, then layer Of bones, and so on, to the
top covering the heap over well with the
ding. 1t lay somhwhat longer that he in
tended, and.was allowed to become to some
degree fire fanged, but the bones were utterly
decon,pI~sa, disintegrated and dissolved. Sc
that the whole heap had become a homogene-
GUS mass, and you could not detect any
| bones in it. Now, why would not this ma
nure be fully equally equal to ground bones
be nearly or about as good as any of the super
pbosphates, = even the "lmproved Super
phosphate" of our delightful and scientific
friend, Prof Mapes, which L have found no
very valuable, especially in its application to
thought in a further experiment, that he
should either manage to moisten the heap, or
else not allow the mixture to remain so many
weeks undisturbed; and l suggested to him
the advantage of covering over the whole mix
ture at the very commencement OF such ex-
pertinent with charcoal, peat earth, plaster, or
some absorbent OF ammonia, and then after
the decomposition Of the bones had been eff
fected, to mix it III with the rest of the heap.
| have thus written out an account of this
experiment, so very successful as far as dis
solving the bones is concerned, as matter of
suggestion to others, and with the hope that it
would induce some of our practical farmers,
at time of leisure, to try the same expert
ment, and after they have made application of
the manure thus manufactured, to give to
their brethren through the medium of the
New England Farmer, on account of its fer
tilizing effects as compared with other COM
posts. JAMES RICHARDSON, Jr.
Kingston, Feb. IL, 1854.
REMARKS. - Capital This will be the
means of cleaning up many a'door- yard, as
well as doubling the turnip crops.-Ne'o Eng
land Farmer.
COVERED AND UNcovERED MxNURE.-Lord
Kinpaird applied, on ten acres of land, twen-
ty cart loads of manure to the acre, taken
liar land, the same quantity pr acre of ma
nure from an uncovered yard, and planted
both at the same time with the same kind of
potatoes.
The yield per acre was-with the uncover
ed dung, 1907 lbs. with the covered dung,
$500 lbs, + 5I
The same land was sown with wheat after
the potatoes, and 1856 lbs. of Peruvian guano
sown per acre on each portion.
The wheat on the land MANFRED with the
uncovered dung was, per acre, AZ bushels and
1892 lbs. of straw. With the covered. dung,
"a bushels and 1890 lbs. of straw.
CULTIVATION OF. LAND WITHOUT MANURE.
Judge Livingston read an extract from the
Farmers Journal, published in London, in
which was described some experiments made
BY Rev. S. Smith, Of Loves, Weldon, to
raise corn without manure, in which he had
met with eminent success. The principal fea-
lures of his plan appeared to be sowing very
sparsely, so as only to plant half the land. and
considerable turning and raking Of the soil,
even while the corn was growing, up to the
month of April, 20 as to keep it in motion and
activity. The result, he states,. was the pro-
duction Of SO or 40 bushels per acre, from one
peck Of seed, and the experiment was equally
successful year after year.