Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-04-13
Utilize Old nones.

William Cliff gives some valuable informa-
ton on the use of bones in an exchange,
which cannot fail to be of use to our readers
who may wish to try the experiment The
value of bones as fertilizer, in their various
forms, is well known. The cost, some $500
$40 ton, is the chief objection to their use
by the average farmer. 1t is not so generally
understood that whole bones, as they are
gathered from the refuse of families in the
streets and yards Of our villages, are quite
available and within the reach of many thrifty
farmers who have business every week in the
nelghboring town. They are especially valu-
able for putting around fruit trees and vines
They can be put in trenches within reach of
the roots of trees already planted, with great
benefit to the wood and fruit of the trees
They are rich in ammonia and phosphoric
acid, and will show their effects in the increas-
ed yield Of fruit for twenty years or more
They have no standard value, and can gene
rally be purchased of boys, who are glad to
get 80 or 40 cents for them Sometimes a
bonanza can be struck at the slaughter house
of the village butcher where the refuse of
slaughtered animals, mixed with absorbents,
make a powerful fertilizer This is much
more valuable manure than that of the barn
yard. The buried bones gradually soften I'M
der the influences of the soil of heat and
frost, until the fine plant rootlets penetrate
VIZ ouCotHhOG VI Alt uOub huu hDbOTD the
nourishmont. If you take up a grape vine
that has been planted over bed Of bones for
few years, you will find the bones firmly
grasped by the roots and in decaying condi-
ton. From one TO three bushels may be safe
" planted under every pear tree and grape
yine.- Windsor Journal
The Journals humorous introduction of
the above article as valuable information on
the use of bones in an exchange" is, evident
ly better than the writer knew. "Bones in
an exchange" would do nearly as much good
as if used in the way recommended We copy
the article as specimen of kind of farm
literature that abounds in wonderful profu-
sion, and which we are making an effort to
keep out of these columns. The effect of
whole bones buried in trench would perhaps
be little better than an equal bulk of brok-
en- granite rock. Both contain elements of
fertility-the first mostly phosphoric acid, the
second mostly potash one is not available as
plant food in the solid bone, nor the other in
the granite rock. Bones will remain in most
soils for years without material change. They
are frequently exhumed in a quite perfect
state from soils in which they have been bur
led for centuries. If bones were readily de-
composed in the soil so as to become availa-
BILE as plant food, dumping them in a trench
by the bushel, or twice or three times that
quantity, would be a wastefu method of ap.
plying. 1t would be worse than burying
cart-load of manure in one mass. The three
bushels of whole bones that the writer advises
burying under each pear tree and grape vine
contain pLosphoric acid enough to fertilize
half an acre, or more than is taken from an
acre by an average crop. We, too, say 'ut-
lie old bones, but don't bury them whole
in quantities sufficient for half an acre, under
single vine or fruit tree. The process of
converting bones into an available plant food
is not so expensive that we can afford to waste
them by planting them whole, in trenches, by
the bushel