Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1859-04-01
a agpGeMg9eee 49,
From tie GeTmantosua Telegraph.
RnIE Dist.


Mr.. EDITOR: -aIuch has been published eF
late in our agricultural publications in commen-
dation OF bone dust, as manure have no
doub; that il will, upon fair trial Of its mef-
ITS, be found fully 10 merit Tie euiogiums Je-
slowed upen t. In one Of lis recently publish
ed works, Mr.. G. W. ohnson has fuiir demon
stra;ed tie value Of tie artieie, ana remarks,
10 substance, tbaE tie experiments hitherto made
manure, Tor agricultural pa, poses, hare bee:
most successful on soils composed mostly Of dry
and light sands, chalk, limestone, light luan,s,
AMI pest. In some few Gases It's application 70
vet, heavy lands, has been productive Of ex
cellent results; bat this has rarely occurred,
and oDly,perhaps, wien The season was remark
ally dry. Il .his country, II has been custo-
mary 70 mix The crushed bones, or dust, with
earth 10 tue proportion Of ffly bushels Of tie
former 70 five loads Of the latte, or forty bust
es. Gye leads O. dung. Whcu il is to De sp-
piled 'o lands lorg depasturej and ii which
he quantity or yegei4bla niattsr is slnndaut,
10 previous fermeu- a,ien-o! tie tones appears
10 he essentially necessary. The mere deson-
posable hnuus soil contains, tie more reas-
y and oficientlg win lie boles act. Ii apply
ing ,ts species OF stimuiau', no definite OF
precise rule can be laid coBn; yesy much &c
pends upon tho quantiiy TO lie applied ia order
70 reinstatc and esta6.i-h tl.e vezetstire energy
q The soli. sisn4tiou au5 $. il 80; &c ra.,si-
ersd, and the quantity gr2doated, As nearly as
may be, 10y The demend. Tie tol.o9ing .ug-
gestions, however, i, nay &c well to consider.
ln all cases, and under every possible nodi-
fcation Ct circumstances, tie fner lie tones
are, the MORE immediate and apparant viii be
;hsir effects. Crushed bones act upoa. the soil
Ter period propoftionate to Their fze Ii the
Formtr's ti4ondoa) Gzeefts, il is stated bat
"Ou iuraip., oats, barley ard wheat, the guam
iity applied has been FROM % to 80 bushels per
acre; on pasiurs nd from % to 40 bushels Of
bone dnst, in the spring Tie best mode Of
application 10 loed crops, IS ty the e'riil, with
the seed. In NEST Kusopean coun;rics, so
highly is this manure esteemed shat, after hav-
iug exhausted almost every other source OF
supply, recourse has been had 70 ths battle
dslls for them, and vast quantities Of human
bones have been exhumed ana appropriated 10
the wants and cses Of agriculture"
It has been customary, Of late, in some sec
tiors, to dissolve the bones in sulphuric acid,
before applying them, aad n.ny who lave Tried
tie experiment, speak Of tbs mode Of appiic2-
ton as pEefef&sls 20 all others. Itseens, from
a recent publication, that slr. 2. Davis, Of
Miltyn House, near PznlhTidge, Hertforshire,
England, has asserted before the ''Agricaltur-
al Monthly Council. lhai With re(erence 10 tie
suggestions Of MT. Puseg, relative 80 apply
ing bone dust previously dissolved il solphuri0
acid, il u1i61 with compost instead Of water CT
tie turnip crop, tAa; be c4n eon.iuae lis iaaa,
having manared two acres with only thirteen
busbels Of bone dust, ,dissolved in twenty seven
pounds Of acid, and one hundred and fity gal
lors o! water. Il Eas permitted 70 ssaad ,weB-
ty-four hours, the liquid being subsequently
mixed wita three oaIt loads OF coal ashes, and
then applied to the soil after ;ae iaPso as
week, after which period ii was too or three
times stirred. The results Of this application
was "a fair crop" from piece Of land '.Iathar
poor and wi,hou, any other stimalant. The
cost was Us. 90. pes acre.
Bones are a phosphate Of Line, in other words,
they ara composed chiefly Of line aud rhos-
phorio acid. When broken or ground opd pis-
ced in The soil, they are, BY ihe action Of bu-
mldity, speedily reduce4 TO stare of inciuiens
decomposition, and the original clemens oil
which they are composed. sic thereby liberated
TO form uew combinations in the great circle Of
revolving nature. BY this means, the phos-
phoric acid is set free ia tie form Of gas, and
the lime lefs ia caustic state, deprived OF its
ueu,rol.ziug acid. Tuesc ;wo substances sre
then LETT to give rise to the pnwerful and laxu
rant vegetation which invariably springs up ami
clothes the surface Of the soil wherever bone
manure in any of its modified ferns Is spilled.
There are probably few principles in nature
more potent or powerfully energetic, tl,sa plos-
phorous in all its forms end states Of existence
and We have consequently foTied the opinion,
that pEospho.ous, in coujuctisn with the linlc--