Judy mentioned BSE: did anyone else hear as I did that researchers have not ruled out the possibility that humans could contract SE from handling bone meal? Yikes! At 11:09 AM 1/23/2004 -0500, you wrote: >The way I understand it, in olden times bone meal was manufactured from >fresh bones, perhaps with some meat scraps still attached. Today, bones are >steamed to extract fats from the marrow, used to manufacture who knows what, >soap perhaps. And bones are mechanically scraped clean of meat scraps (that, >in these BSE-conscious times, I hope is used for pet food and not hot dogs.) >So much of what previously would have been incorporated as a plant nutrient >is removed. Besides, all the skunks in my neighborhood dig for the bones >they think are buried. > >One fertilizer I used to get was leather tankage, a good dust-fine nitrogen >source produced in the manufacture of leather buttons at some Long Island >factory. Any other odd materials you've used and found valuable? > >Judy in still cold, still snow-covered New Jersey > >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >