The Elements of Agriculture A Book for Young Farmers, with Questions Prepared for the Use of Schools, George E. Waring [read aloud books TXT] 📗

 

It has been said by a contemporary writer, that for each cow kept on a pasture through the summer, there is carried off in veal, butter and cheese, not less than fifty lbs. of phosphate of lime (bone-earth) on an average. This would be one thousand lbs. for twenty cows; and it shows clearly why old dairy pastures become so exhausted of this substance, that they will no longer produce those nutritious grasses, which are favorable to butter and cheese-making.

[How much phosphate of lime will twenty cows remove from a pasture during a summer?

What has this removal of phosphate of lime occasioned?

How have the Genesee and Mohawk valleys been affected by this removal of phosphoric acid?]

That this removal of the most valuable constituent of the soil, has been the cause of more exhaustion of farms, and more emigration, in search of fertile districts, than any other single effect of injudicious farming, is a fact which multiplied instances most clearly prove.

It is stated that the Genesee and Mohawk valleys, which once produced an average of thirty-five or forty bushels of wheat, per acre, have since been reduced in their average production to twelve and a half bushels. Hundreds of similar cases might be stated; and in a large majority of these, could the cause of the impoverishment be ascertained, it would be found to be the removal of the phosphoric acid from the soil.

SECTION 3 (MANURES) CHAPTER IX (DEFICIENCIES OF SOILS, MEANS OF RESTORATION, ETC) Pg 161

 

[How may this devastation be arrested?

Is any soil inexhaustible?

What is usually the best source from which to obtain phosphoric acid?]

The evident tendency of cultivation being to continue this murderous system, and to prey upon the vital strength of the country, it is necessary to take such measures as will arrest the outflow of this valuable material. This can never be fully accomplished until laws shall be made preventing the wastes of cities and towns. Such laws have existed for a long time in China, and have doubtlessly been the secret of the long subsistence and present prosperity of the millions of people inhabiting that country.

We have, nevertheless, a means of restoring to fertility many of our worn-out lands, and preserving our fertile fields from so rapid impoverishment as they are now suffering. Many suppose that soils which produce good crops, year after year, are inexhaustible, but time will prove to the contrary. They may possess a sufficiently large stock of phosphoric acid, and other constituents of plants, to last a long time, but when that stock becomes so reduced, that there is not enough left for the uses of full crops, the productive power of the soil will yearly decrease, until it becomes worthless. It may last a long time, a century, or even more, but as long as the system is--to remove every thing, and return nothing,--the fate of the most fertile soil is evident.

SECTION 3 (MANURES) CHAPTER IX (DEFICIENCIES OF SOILS, MEANS OF RESTORATION, ETC) Pg 162

 

The source mentioned, from which to obtain phosphoric acid, is the bones of animals. These contain large quantities of phosphate of lime. They are the receptacles which collect nearly all of the phosphates in crops, which are fed to animals, and are not returned in their excrements. For the grain, etc., sent out of the country, there is no way to be repaid except by the importation of this material; but, all that is fed to animals, or to human beings, may, if a proper use be made of their excrement, and of their bones after death, be returned to the soil. With the treatment of animal excrements we are already familiar, and we will now turn our attention to the subject of

BONES.

[Of what do dried bones consist?

What is the organic matter of bones?

The inorganic?

What can you say of the use of whole bones?]

Bones consist, when dried, of about one third organic matter, and two thirds inorganic matter.

The organic matter consists chiefly of gelatine--a compound containing nitrogen.

The inorganic part is chiefly phosphate of lime.

Hence, we see that bones are excellent, as both organic and mineral manure. The organic part, containing nitrogen, forms ammonia, and the inorganic part supplies the much needed phosphoric acid to the soil.

SECTION 3 (MANURES) CHAPTER IX (DEFICIENCIES OF SOILS, MEANS OF RESTORATION, ETC) Pg 163

 

Liebig says that, as a producer of ammonia, 100 lbs. of dry bones are equivalent to 250 lbs. of human urine.

[How does the value of bone dust compare with that of broken bones?

What is the reason of the superiority of bone dust?

How is bone-black made?

Of what does it consist?]

Bones are applied to the soil in almost every conceivable form. Whole bones are often used in very large quantities; their action, however, is extremely slow, and it is never advisable to use bones in this form.

Ten bushels of bones, finely ground, will produce larger results, during the current ten years after application, than would ensue from the use of one hundred bushels merely broken, not because the dust contains more fertilizing matter than the whole bones, but because that which it does contain is in a much more available condition. It ferments readily, and produces ammonia, while the ashy parts are exposed to the action of roots.

[Should farmers burn bones before using them?

How would you compost bones with ashes?

In what way would you prevent the escape of ammonia?]

Bone-black.

SECTION 3 (MANURES) CHAPTER IX (DEFICIENCIES OF SOILS, MEANS OF RESTORATION, ETC) Pg 164

 

If bones are burned in retorts, or otherwise protected from the atmosphere, their organic matter will all be driven off, except the carbon, which not being supplied with oxygen cannot escape. In this form bones are called ivory black, or bone-black. It consists of the inorganic matter, and the carbon of the bones. The nitrogen having been expelled it can make no ammonia, and thus far the original value of bones is reduced by burning; that is, one ton of bones contains more fertilizing matter before, than after burning; but one ton of bone black is more valuable than one ton of raw bones, as the carbon is retained in a good form to act as an absorbent in the soil, while the whole may be crushed or ground much more easily than before being burned. This means of pulverizing bones is adopted by manufacturers, who replace the ammonia in the form of guano, or otherwise; but it is not to be recommended for the use of farmers, who should not lose the ammonia, forming a part of bones, more than that of other manure.

Composting bones with ashes is a good means of securing their decomposition. They should be placed in a water-tight vessel (such as a cask); first, three or four inches of bones, then the same quantity of strong unleached wood ashes, continuing these alternate layers until the cask is full, and keeping them always wet. If they become too dry they will throw off an offensive odor, accompanied by the escape of ammonia, and consequent loss of value. In about one year, the whole mass of bones (except, perhaps, those at the top) will be softened, so that they may be easily crushed, and they are in a good condition for manuring. The ashes are, in themselves, valuable, and this compost is excellent for many crops, particularly for Indian corn.

SECTION 3 (MANURES) CHAPTER IX (DEFICIENCIES OF SOILS, MEANS OF RESTORATION, ETC) Pg 165

 

A little dilute sulphuric acid, occasionally sprinkled on the upper part of the matter in the cask, will prevent the escape of the ammonia.

[What is the effect of boiling bones under pressure?

How is super-phosphate of lime made?

Describe the composition of phosphate of lime, and the chemical changes which take place in altering it to super-phosphate of lime.]

Boiling bones under pressure, whereby their gelatine is dissolved away, and the inorganic matter left in an available condition, from its softness, is a very good way of rendering them useful; but, as it requires, among other things, a steam boiler, it is hardly probable that it will be largely adopted by farmers of limited means.

Any or all of these methods are good, but bones cannot be used with true economy, except by changing their inorganic matter into

SUPER-PHOSPHATE