148 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



thrown out with the tar. It i- a most valuable fertilizer, containing, in some cases, as much 

 as one an<l a half pounds of sal-ammoniac in the gallon. It may be used to promote the 

 fermentation of peat or couch-heaps, or may be mixed with any earthy or carbonaceous 

 composts. Iu England, it has been used, in some cases, in conjunction with saw-dusL and 

 gave very beneficial results. If applied to grass-land in too large quantities, it is Haule to 

 scorch the Burfaoe ; but, diluted, it produces fine, dark-coloured herbage. The lime-water of 

 gas-works is also a potent fertilizer ; but hitherto it has been little used. The lime em- 

 ployed to purify the gas is, to a certain extent, liquified ; and, after considerable evaporation, 

 a quantity of fluid, somewhat viscid, and smelling strongly of hydro-sulphuret of ammonia, 

 is run off to an underground tank. This lime-water, about five hundred tons of which are 

 annually produced at the Edinburgh Gas-Works, has hitherto been given for the carting 

 away. One or two farmers have used a good deal of it ; but vcrj r large quantities are still 

 allowed to run to waste. If mixed with bibulous substances, more especially if the} 7 are 

 capable of being fermented, an excellent compost for use, along with other manure, will be 

 produced. Gas-tar may also be employed in a similar manner with advantage, only it is 

 necessary to use it rather cautiously and along with other substances, or it may injure the 

 crops to which it is applied. — Transactions of the Highland Agricultural Society, Scotland. 



In regard to the value of gas-lime, great difference of opinion exists among American 

 agriculturists. Muck of the gas-lime, as it comes from the purifiers, is in the state of 

 hyposulphite of lime, most of which, by exposure to air, moisture, and vegetation, passes 

 into sulphate of lime, (gypsum.) Some carbonate is also undoubtedly formed. So long 

 the lime remains a hyposulphite, its value for agricultural purposes cannot be very 

 great. The hyposulphites, as is well known, are all depilatories or hair-removers. The 

 ilatory powders sold by druggists are compounds of this character. We have heard 

 of an instance where a gentleman farmer added fresh gas-lime to his hog-pen, with the 

 intent that the swine should incorporate it with the compost-heap. This was effectually 

 accomplished ; but at the expense of the bristles and hair of the hogs, which was, in a 

 great measure, removed during the operation. The editor of the Horticulturist, who 

 a poor opinion of it, says: Some years ago we were informed, by a very intelligent 

 gentleman near Toronto, that it was not worth hauling two miles ; that they had tried 

 it to their entire satisfaction ; yet it might be valuable elsewhere or under other cir- 

 cumstances. We have seen an analysis by Professor Johnson, in which he found in one hun- 

 dred and twelve pounds fifty-six pounds of water, twenty pounds of carbonic acid, and thirty- 

 six pounds ,,f lime and sulphur. This thirty-six pounds is about the same as gypsum, and is 

 all we should consider of any particular value. 



Dr. I celebrated chemist, has described it as "vile refuse, which should be buried 



many fathoms deep in some harrm region : for, when spread on the farmer's field, after dis- 

 charging Bulphuretted hydrogen with vapor of pm—ie and other malignant g sulphur 

 gets oxygenated into sulphurous acid — two volatile products alike detrimental to plants." 



The following is a paper on the use of ga^ lime, by J. F. W. Johnston, of England: — 



/.' ' Oat Works. — This refuse lime consists of a mixture of carbonate of lime 



with B Variable quantity Of gypsum and Other salts of lime Containing Sulphur, and a little 

 -tar and free sulphur, the whole colored usually bj a little Prussian hlue. The follow- 

 ing I dbits the composition of two gas-limes which have been analyzed in my labora- 

 m Edinburgh and London, The fir-t fcWO columns show what they irrrr win :i Bent 



to me : the second two, what they ttfUl I ter long exposure to the air, after beb 



into com] ost, or after being thoroughly and for a length of time incorporated with the soil. 



table shows that these gas-limes differ much in composition, especially in the propor- 

 tions of sulphur or of the acide of Bulphur they contain. This arises chiefly from the I 

 of coal which is employed in the manufacture of gas in different works-. 



l t marked difference between the two samples here analysed is in the compounds 



call' • lime. The latter of I eadily in 



water, and its presence in ^n<-\\ very different proportions satisfactorily accounts for the very 



dif! which have followed from the application of gas-lime to the land in different 



•-. The rains dissolve the hyposulphite and the SUlphuret, and carry them down in 



