The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-06-27
valae Of Bones.

ciated till within comparatively short
time. Observing people. who had no
knowledge of agricultural chemistry,
uncovered their value before scientific
men did. They noticed the remarkable
growth of trees and vines on places
where dead animals had been buried or
bones had been put Ito get them ont OF
the way" The blowing over.A Of iehor-
nous trees sometimes discloses the de-
composed skeleton of an animal The
pleasantly written story of "Who Ate
Roger Williams?'' was q few days ago
published IN neatly every paper in the
country. Rvs known that an apple
tree was planted on the grave of the
founder OF Rhode Island, and that its
size. thrift and productivenes s,w were the
admiration of all who, visited the spot.
several years ago it was proposed to re-
move the remains to another spot, with
a view of erecting a''monument over
them. The grave was opened, but lit
tie could be found. The roots OF the
apple tree had invaded it and appro-
priated the treasure. A living growth
was found. answering in form to the
skeleton of the dead man. The extra
ordinary fertility of many ancient bat
tle-felds has long been noticed. Many
farmers have observed that porous bones,
plowed up in fields. contained the roots
of plants. For centuries before the COM
position Of mari was known, it was en-
ployed as fertilizer in different parts
Of the world. The credit of demon
strating the great value of bones as fer
tilizers, and showing the part they play
in iincreasing the growth of vegetation,
are chiefly due to Prof. Liebig and Sir
John B. Lawes. They showed that
bones contained. in addition to lime and
substances rich innitrogen, large guam
tities of phosphoric acid, which is of
great value to plants n"'.i'-''
The trade in fertilizers consisting
largely of bones has recently become
very extensive In nearly every large
oitf the collection of bones receives al
most as much attention as the collection
of rags. Butchers save and sell all the
bones taken from, the meat they, retail.
The bones are carefully saved at adj the
slaugbtering and rendering establish
ments. The bones of buffaloes and
other wild animals have been collected
ON all the prairies-of- the West--ETen
the great plains of South America have
been searched for Them The English
have not hesitated to use the bones of
the ancient Egyptians for the purpose
of making fertilizers. AS bones decay
cry slowly. and are difficult to pulyer-
ice in their natural state. thessrisIial
practice is to break them into small
| fragments by means of heavy crushers,
and to then treat them with diluted sui
phuric acid The sulphurio acid pro-
duces decomposition in the bones and
renders them soluble The substance
known as phosphate or superphosphate
i lime, being readily soluble, is avail
| ,ble for the Immediate wants OF plants.
The substance in its pure form is very
expensive, and it is not eeonofnical 70
use it on, the cheap lands in the West.
Its employment in the West is chiefly
confined to lawns and gardens in cities
and to few special crops, as grapes
and hops. In the Eastern and South
ern States it is used in connection with
stable manures for various crops. Its
| cost has led to the employment of MANY
adulterations Pulverized bones, or
bone meal, also has an extensive sale.
Not being as soluble as bones that have
been treated by an acid it does not pro-
duce as great immediate benefits. 1t is,
however, an excellent fertilizer to en-
ploy where lasting benefits are desired.
It is less likely to be adulterated than
the phosphates of lime and the frauds
are more easily detected.
While Western farmers may not find
| it profitable to use the commercial fertil-
izers prepared from bones, they may
| derive great advantage from collecting
all the bones they can and treating
them in ways that are quite inexpens-
l. i've. Bones, in their natural state, are
very hard to pulverize. They have an
organized structure that renders them
able to resist hard blows. They con-
Tain Animal as well as mineral sub
stances. They always contain consid-
cradle glue and fat. These 'aid other
animal substances are. valuable to
plants. and it would be desirable to re-
tiuce in the form they are when taken
from animals if the difficulty was not as
great. If bones are burned in a COM
mon stove or furnace the animal mat
ter they contain will be consumed and
they will become so brittle that they
may be readily pulverized. Bones that
have been burned contain all the phos-
phorus that entire bones .do,cand make
a very : valuable fertilizer. When
pounded they are excellent for feeding
| to fowls with a view Of atording ma
terials for egg shells, and are also very
valuable for all kinds of animals that
are giving milk, whether tbs intended
| for home consumption, making butter
and cheese, or raising young. The best
dairy farmers in this country and Eu-
rope now give their cows bone-meal ~
! regularly as they do salt. Bones may
be rendered so soft that they can be
readily crushed by placing them in
strong barrels with wood ashcs
| that are kept moist. They MAY also
he softened by placing them IN hesps
of manure that Is going through the
process of fermentation. After tney
have few weeks in connection with
moist ashes or fresh stable manure they
NAV be readily crushed with 3 sledge-
hammer. They make most EXCELLENT
fertilizer for melons, s9uashes. grape
vines, all kinds of small grain. corn,
garden yege, ables and flowers. A small
quantity placed in flower-pot will add
to the growth of the plants raised in
them.
The heads of slaughtered animals.
with the horns and flesh attached to
them, may be placed to excellent adj
vanta ge in the holes where grape-vines
and apple and pear trees are TO be
I planted. Dead fowls and the bones OF
poultry from the table may be disposed
of in the same way. In many parts OF
7 tha Wet skeletons OF animals are scat