<P> Bone meal (or Bone manure) is a mixture of finely and coarsely ground animal bones and slaughter - house waste products . It is used as an organic fertilizer for plants and as a nutritional supplement for animals . As a slow - release fertilizer, bone meal is primarily used as a source of phosphorus and protein . Finely ground bone meal may provide a quicker release of nutrients than the coarser ground version of bone meal . </P> <P> Bone meal, along with a variety of other meals, especially meat meal, is used as a dietary / mineral supplement for livestock . It is used to feed monogastric animals with bone meal from ruminants, and vice versa, to prevent the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or "mad cow disease". Proper heat control can reduce salmonella contaminants . </P>

Bone is used as a fertilizer because it contains the plant nutrient