Bone Meal production
Bone Meal as Fertiliser
What plants need for growth are especially phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen. Muck (manure) as natural fertiliser contains these minerals. After 1780 bone meal, which contains 20 % phosphates, was also used.
In Tact
A waterwheel turns a wooden shaft from the Bone mill from Knonau, Zurich (692), the cam boom. Eight wooden cam pegs lift rams up and let them drop down again under their own weight. The blows following one another in mere seconds crush the boiled bones until the catchment trough contains nothing but meal.
The last bone mills shut down in the 1960’s.
Ballenberg
Swiss Open-Air Museum
Museumsstrasse 100
CH-3858 Hofstetten bei Brienz
Opening hours
9 April to 1 November 2026
10 am to 5 pm daily
Opening hours Administration
8 am to 6 pm daily
