The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-06-19


The sample of bone-ash received
from you has been Analysed, with the
following results:
Phosphoric acid .................. $3.50 per cent.
Finer than l5Oth OF an inch 80 90 per cent.
Finer than l.25th of inch ....... LEO per cent
Finer than l-l2th OF an inch 2000 per cent.
Coarser than l2th Of an inch ."..". 49, per cent.
1t will be noticed that over one half
was finer than one-twenty-ffth of an
inch, which is quite as fine as average
ground bone, many samples of which,
according to the Connecticut Expert
ment Stations Report, gave less than
thirty per cent finer than one-twenty-
fifth of an inch, though some samples
gave over fifty per cent. Raw bone, how
ever, is rarely so fine; and besides that
its pores are full of grease, making it but
slowly available.
Professor Cookies valuation of our
bone-ash, based on the commercial
value (wholesale, we suppose), was
S37.12; but bone-ash of equal grade
can not be bought, laid down in Yer
mont, for much less that $50 per ton.
All this bone was taken in exchange
for Gull apples, or other unmerchant-
able farm products.
AS regards the availability of bone
ash for the immediate nutrition of crops,
it is decidedly greater than ground
bone, as much of it is four-fine, and
there is no grease in it to repel the soil
water, in which it must be dissolved be-
fore the feeding roots of plants can
take it up. But-(and, alas! here is
the trouble with so many farmers, in
getting them to understand such mat
ters)-bone-ash furnishes the crop with
nothing but phosphoric acid. You must
provide potash and nitrogen from some
other source. Where will you get it?
Potash you can get from ashes, or the
potash salts. Nitrogen is to be had in
dried blood, ground fish, nitrate Of
soda and sulphate of ammonia. But
we use our bone-ash usually to increase
the proportion of phosphoric acid in
rich stable manure. If you are careful
in saving the manure from well-fed
stock, so that it shall not heat, leach,
or be washed by rains, it will always be
too rich in nitrogen, and all this excess
of nitrogen is lost, or may even be in
furious to the crop. How shall we save
it? Just as easy as falling off log.
Put on half dressing of the rich dung,
made fine and spread evenly, and then
SOW on two hundred pounds of bone
ash to the acre, and you have what will
be better than full dressing of ma
nure. So you see how easy it would
be to double your crops by making good
manure, and using half dressing, with
this cheap bone-ash added, which will
make it equal to full dressing.
But what about the supply of potash?
Well, if your manure is we'll saved,
urine and all, it is also rich enough in
potash to bear extending one-half. If
not, and your land is light and needs
potash, then sow on ten bushels OF
ashes per acre at the same time you
put on the bone-ash, and harrow it all
in. Phosphoric acid is relatively def
cient in all good stable manure, and
ground bone, or bone-ash, comes in tc
make this up and save waste. TIC
show how important a knowledge OF
this fact is, we quote from the report
of farmer, w. l.. Bartholomew, OF
some careful experiments made by
him, and printed in the Connection
Report for 1888, page IA. He says
4" / had field of corn which was planted
with thirty carloads of manure to the
acre. This we considered an extra ma
nuring, the land being previously il
good condition and the manure coming
from well-fed cows. In addition t
this, on the greater part of the field
applied two hundred pounds of dis
solved comeback per acre, but part
were left on which bone-black was no
added. The yield of corn on the part
which had only manure was fifty-fou
bushels per acre. On the part wher,
both were applied it was sixty-fou
bushels per acre.
Here we see that no matter how ricl
stable manure may be we can only ge
its full value by having it correctly pro
portioned in regard to its fertilizin!
elements-nitrogen, phosphoric act
and potash. II one element il
short the others, however abund
ant, can not increase the crop beyont
that. Good manure from well-fet
stock is always proportionally shor
in phosphoric acid, and so we see
in Mr.. Bartholomew test, that
little phosphoric acid, separately APP
piled, gave him ten bushels more corr
to the acre. Bone-ash is about twic,
as rich in phosphoric acid as dissolved