The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-03-16
WHAT TO DO WITH BONES.

Tho value of bones as a manure is now
very generally admitted, yet hundreds of
tons are lying about, unused, in every
county Of the state. The main reason
for this is the unmanageable nature Of
bones in their natural state,-the impos.
sibility Of getting them reduced to pow.
der, or to any condition that will fit them
for use as fertilizer, without too great
expense. Raw bones are extremely diff.
cult to grind, owing to the fat and other
soft animal matter they contain-one.half
Of their weight being made up Of such ma.
terial, which clogs any ordinary grinding.
mill, and makes it necessary to have mills
specially constructed for the purpose
These mills are costly. and no common
farmer could afford to buy bone for his
own usc simply though we believe that
one farmer in town, who was fitted up
with good horsepower, would find it
pay to buy one and grind bones for his
neighbors at reasonable :oil. Or it
would pay to Get one up in some water
mill. where there was surplus power.
A good many directions have been
given in the agricultural papers during
the last ten years for the last ten years
for the utilization Of bones, but to very
little effect, since not one farmer in a
hundred ever makes any use of them.
Even those who do try to save the the
the bones soon find that it costs more than
they are worth to work ,hem into fer.
tilizer, and soon conclude that the only
profitable use of them is to work them
them into the soil around the foot OF trees
where in long process Of time their vir.
tue is doubtless absorbed, TO the benefit oil
the fruit.
We have tried good many ways tc
make use OF bones, following now one
code OF directions and now another, bu
hsve been reluctantly forced to the con
cluslon that under any manipulation the
resulting fertilizer costs more than it il
worth, and more than ground bones from
the fertilizer factories are sold for. Ye
il has worried us to know that the yer,
bone for which we were paying fifty dol
lars ton, could be bought right at HON,
for ten or fifteen dollars, in its uugrounC
state, and that we could better afford t,
give one.half as toll to bone mill than t,
buy it as we have had to. Finally, W
have concluded that the best ALTERNATIVE
consists in buying the bones and burning
them. 1t is almost as trying to the econ
omist to dc this, as to buy the groun,
bone at the high price at which genuin
a. al h. ok -.
valuable part of the bones. the anima
matter, is lost In burning. Still as "hal
loaf is better than no bread" and a
the half a ton Of bones is worth NOR
than it costs, while any other mode 0
handling them costs more than the pro
duct is worth, we have reluctantly resort
ed to the burning process.
Bones thoroughly burned are YER
easily beaten to fine powder with tn
back of shovel This powder is almos
wholly composed of phosphate Of lime, tn
very thing that most Of our worn out soil
require to restore their fertility. But
is still not in its best condition for use a
fertilizer. since it lacks solubilify. Thi
solubiity is produced in the fertilizer fac
tories by adding sulphuEic acid, whic
transforms the bones to snperphosphai
which dissolves readily in water. Blu
far in the country sulphuric acid is diff
cult TO obtain. and with the cost of freigh
and the ''carboys" 10 which it comes,
it too expensive. Is there no chcape
way Of making our bone-ash phosphat
solubla and Tins fl for Droducino an i'm
mediate effect upon the growth of plants
This is a matter upon which we hav
been experimenting, and although on
tests have been only practical ones, gath
cred from observing the effect Of the mar
ure when applied, aud not as we shoul