Reducing Bones For Fertilizer

A simple plan, for dissolving bones that accumulate about the farm, without the use of acid, is as follows: Crush the bones as thoroughly as possible, and provide a barrel of fresh burned lime and three barrels of strong, hard wood ashes for every barrel of crushed bone. Use as a base of inixing hearth a tight floor or a level layer of loamy soil about six inches thick. Upon this spread a barrel of ashes in a similar layer; then, in a thinner layer, half a barrel of bone; scatter through the bone, to fill the space, and spread upon it a half barrel of lime, pulverized, but not slaked. On this spread a second barrel of ashes. Wet this pile gradually with a sprinkler, using about ten gallons of water, or enough to moisten all, but have none run out. Add in like manner a half barrel of bone, a half barrel of lime, a barrel of ashes and ten gallons more of water. Over all scatter about one bushei of land piaster, and cover the entire pile with dry loam. Examine the pile once a week if needed and add water to keep all moist, but not wet. In four or five weeks shovel over and thoroughly mix, moisten and pile again, cover with soil and a little more piaster, and leave two two or 'three weeks longer. If pieces of bone then remain undecomposed, sift them out, use in next compost, or add more quicklime and ashes to give further time.