follows, if 250 lbs. of cheese are sold annually from three acres of
pasture, less than one lb. of phosphoric acid per acre is exported from
the farm in the cheese.

One ton of timothy-hay contains nearly 14-1/2 lbs. of phosphoric acid.
And so a farmer who raises a ton of timothy-hay per acre, and sells it,
sends off as much phosphoric acid in one year as such a Cheshire
dairyman as I have alluded to did in fourteen years.

What the dairymen want, and what farmers generally want, is nitrogen
_and_ phosphoric acid. Bone-dust furnishes both, and this was the reason
of its wonderful effects.

It does not follow from this, that bone-dust is the cheapest and best
manure we can use. It is an old and popular manure, and usually commands
a good price. It sells for all it is worth. A dozen years ago, I bought
ten tons of bone-dust at $18 per ton. I have offered $25 per ton since
for a similar lot, but the manufacturers find a market in New York for
all they can make.

Bone-dust, besides nitrogen, contains about 23 per cent of phosphoric
acid.

"That does not give me," said the Deacon, "any idea of its value."

"Let us put it in another shape, then," said I. "One ton of good
bone-dust contains about as much nitrogen as 8-1/2 tons of fresh
stable-manure, and as much phosphoric acid as 110 tons of fresh
stable-manure. But one ton of manure contains more potash than 5 tons of
bone-dust."

Bone-dust, like barnyard-manure, does not immediately yield up its
nitrogen and phosphoric acid to plants. The bone phosphate of lime is
insoluble in water, and but very slightly soluble in water containing
carbonic acid. The gelatine of the bones would soon decompose in a
moist, porous, warm soil, provided it was not protected by the oil and
by the hard matter of the bones. Steaming, by removing the oil, removes
one of the hindrances to decomposition. Reducing the bones as fine as
possible is another means of increasing their availability.

Another good method of increasing the availability of bone-dust is to
mix it with barnyard-manure, and let both ferment together in a heap.
I am inclined to think this the best, simplest, and most economical
method of rendering bone-dust available. The bone-dust causes the heap
of manure to ferment more readily, and the fermentation of the manure
softens the bones. Both the manure and the bones are improved and
rendered richer and more available by the process.

Another method of increasing the