Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1880-02-03
THE BEST WAY TO USE BONES.

Take one ton of ground bone 1.-THE finer
ground the better and one-half an OK
cart load (one-quarter Of cord) OF good
friable soil which will not bake or cake
by drying, and which is free from sods
and stones, no matter how wet it may be
when used. Place layer OF the soil
and layer of the bone, of about equal
thickness, upon each other (soil at the
bottom), on the barn floor, or under cover
in shed or out building, leaving bushel
or two Of this soil to cover the heap when
all the rest is put together. The heap
will be three to four feet wide at the
bottom, and about twice as long. In
forty-eight hours it will be too hot to
hold your hand in. Let it remain undis-
turbed until the heap begins to cool,
which will be in q week to ten days.
Then "throw over" the heap by ''cbop-
ping it down. with shovel and moving
it .'in end" thoroughly mixing the soil
and bone. In day or two it will heat
again. Let it remain until it cools, or
for eight or ten days; then. throw it over
in the same manner again. In a few
days it will heat again, unless the pre-
vious lamentations have exhausted all
the moisture in the soil and bone. Throw
over each ten days until all the moisture
is thus exhausted and it does not ferment
any more; then it will be fit for use, and
can be put away in old barrels, and it
will be ready for use, without deteriora-
ton, for ten years.
All that is necessary to make bones
operate as manure is decomposition
rotting: and to produce this process the
bone only needs to be ground or broken
fine. and to be subjected to moisture in
warm weather with some substance that
will retain the gases evolved during the
process. Soil furnishes the essential req
uisites. and nothing more is needed to
make bones an excellent and durable
manure.
This is not theoretical rule, merely.
l have used many tons prepared IN this
manner during the last twelve to fifteen
years. have tried it upon the same
field, and side by side with the super
phosphates Of different manufacturers,
and always saw the best and most per-
mancnt effects from the same weight OF
bone prepared in this manner. ton OF
which costs, exclusive Of the labor and
soil, about half as much as ton OF
superphosphate.
| do not wish to excite a war with the
chemists. but think their theory of the
benefit bone derives by treatment with
sulphuric acid is erroneous. The acid
only aids the manurial qualities Of the
bone by the mechanical effect OF subdi-
viding it-making it finer. Its chemical
effect is no better upon bone than 1t
would be upon green horse dung, and ]
would no sooner trea, one than the other
with oil of vitriol, with view of adding
20 its chemical value as manure.
| want 10 say, further. that before
treating bones in this manner, tried sew
eral methods recommended by the farm
ing newspapers without much satisfac-
ton. mixed half ton of ground bones
with twenty bushels Of leached ashes,
and half ton with twelve bushels of
unleached ashes, and the workmen could
not open their eyes in the barn next morn
ing until the doors and windows had been
open long enough to let the ammonia
out. As soon as saw the effect OF this
process sent for load or two of spent
tan to mix with it, and thus saved part
of the ammonia; but the effect of this
compost was not very striking.
next mixed ton Of bone with wet
yellow sand-a material about halfway
between sharp sand and loan. This fer
mented finely, but it smelt so bad, and
was so nasty, that | had to pay an exor-
bitant price to get it applied to the land.
1t had good effect however.
| then mixed ton of bone with ton
of ground plaster. found the plaster
was wholly incapable Of keeping down
the carrion smell, or of absorbing the
manure given out in the form Of gases.
Water had to be added to this heap to
support the fermentation, and the plaster
dried hard and in Jumps, and did not
seem to participate in the fementive proc
ess as the soil does. This did not have so
good an effect as the bone and sand and
none of these compounds was equal to
that prepared with soil.
will also add that the newest bone is
the best. The old dry bones which are
collected after exposure to the weather
for years have lost much of their virtue,
and will not heat so soon or so much as
those which have not lost their gelatine
- IL. xs~.~nar To.,.y-., Lsx,yt.o,.