May I, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



759 



SALT WORKS IS COLOGNE. 



Kainit, as a substitute for salt and far more 

 than a substitute, in consequence of the large pro- 

 portion of potash, having' been recently noticed in 

 our columns, Iho following account of the Gorman 

 mines whence this and other valuable salts are 

 derived will lie interesting to our readers : — 



lU-;i'OUr IIV eONSUl. W.iliNEll IN STASSl'UKT. 



For many years the saline beds in Northern Ger- 

 many have been yielding immense supplies of rock 

 salt, and as lai'ge quantities of the products of this 

 salt are aiuuuiUy imported into the United States 

 for agi'icultural purposes, some statistical information 

 on their production may not fail to be of interest, 

 especially to that class of Airerican agriculturists 

 who use the quality called kainite ithe hydrated 

 chloride of potassium and sulphate of magnesia.) 



The raw potash salt contains on an average the 

 following ingredients ; Chloride of potassium, Ur8 per 

 cent; chloride ot magnesium, *2()'"» per cent ; chloride 

 of sodium, sulphate of magnesia, lit; per cent ; 

 chloride of calcium, 0-4 per ceut ; insoluble matter, 

 0"S per cent; and water, aO'ti per ceut. 



The importance of these beds has been constantly 

 increasing during the last twenty-five years by dis- 

 coveries of other almost inexhaustible supplies of 

 potash salts in and aroiuid the cities of btassfurt 

 and Asheraleben. These two places are within a few 

 miles of Magdeburg, the capital city of the rich 

 province of Saxony, in the Kingdom of Prussia. 



Besides the great value of these salts for manuring 

 purposes, kainite taking the lead on account of its 

 being in a condition directly applicable to the soil 

 and its cheapness in comparison with any other 

 artificially prepared fertilizers, they are largely used 

 ill the various chemical industries for the manufacture 

 of chloride of potassium, sulphates of potash and soda, 

 preparations of magnesium, potash, tVc. 



Tue following sta'istics, published bj the German 

 Imperial ncivcrnnient, will convey some idea of the 

 gro.i'ing importance of these beds. The Stas^furt and 

 Asherslebeii Haline beds pro iuciul, iu the following years . 

 Year. Kock salt. Potash Salt: 



cwt. cwt. 



18(i4 ... ... 1,620,094 ... 2,3-30.791 



IbTO ... ... 2,2.5S,.581 ... 5.837,8.'>7 



187-1 ... ... 3,237.411 ... 8.591.219 



1830 ... ... 5,41.5,403 ... 13.:i«l,811 



1^84 ... ... U,89.=i,960 ... 19.;1S3,820 



The fignrei show that while the production of rock 

 salt within the period of twenry years has quadrupl'Hl 

 the increase of pcjtash sails has been ninefold. The salt 

 works now in the innnen'^e ba.iiu are, Stassurt, op.?ued 

 in 1S57. the l,eopoldhall, opened in 18G2, the Consoli- 

 dated Alkaline Salt \V'ork9, in Westuregeln, opened in 

 107.), the Snltrock mints New StiLs.sfurt in Loilerherg 

 near Stassfurt, opened in 1877, the Potash mines, Asher- 

 sh ben. opened in 1883, and the Salt mines Ludwig II, 

 opr-ned in IS34. The official statement of their product 

 iu fiv years, prepared by Dr. Fratdj and Mr. K. ]5es.scr, 

 the director of the salt mines in New Stassfurt is as 

 follows :-- 

 Year. Karnallite. Kaiuitc. Kierserite. Boracite. 



cwt. cwt. cwt. cwt. 



I5SO 10,5e4,2;!9ll 2,75.1,91.50 17,8.570 2,0730 

 1881 M,89i,.521 .3,100,0310 41.0380 2,25H ,5 

 1832 21.1S.5,9fl.5-5 3,89.5,1.540 !)3,l«2l) 2,5l3-.5 

 1883 19,001,0010 4,532,005-0 97,004 4,I02,..5 

 1881 ll.799,I79-6 4,080,0870 274,777 3,1823 



These figures show that the greatest yield of 

 karnallitc wa< in 1882, aud the largest yield of kieserite 

 was ill the year 1881. 



Karnallite, which is produced in such enormous 

 quantity, is described hy .Johnston and Cameron 

 as a compound of nip.';nesie and potas^Ic chlorides 

 and water. Of kainit they say that it.TiCom]iOsition 

 is variable. Good specimens contain cliloride and 

 sulphate of potassium equal to about 14 per cent 

 of potash. Nearly one-fourth ot kainit consists of 

 magnesie chloride and sulpliate, tl)o rest is niiide 

 up chiefly of common suit, 



SEED-PEAEL SHELLING AT BATU BATU. 



The following, from the North Borneo Herald 

 will be interesting to our readers. The pearl shell 

 referred to is the species found in Tumblagam 

 Bay, near Trincomalee, the large thin shells of 

 which are said to he used by the Chinese as sub- 

 stitutes for window glass, and which are put to 

 artistic use, small pictures being painted on them, 

 having all the eil'ect of transparencies : — 



The prominent point of land called Batu Batu 

 jutting out into Padas Bay is now the centre of 

 much activity, and many refugees from the dis- 

 membered kingdom of ISrnnei have made it their 

 home. Constant feuds, intrigues and misgovern- 

 ment have rendered life and property insecure in 

 Brunei and gladly have our immigrants ex- 

 changed the red banner of Brunei for the protection 

 afforded by the a-gis of the Royal Chartered 

 Company. 



Most ot the immigrants come from Brunei, others 

 hail from Labuan, Lawas and neighbouring rivers. 

 The roving adventurers who trade from port to 

 port along these coasts do a good business with 

 the Muruts who bring down jungle produce, 

 for which hitherto there was no market, and the 

 newly-arrived " horny-handed sons of toil ;' inimedi- 

 alely find employment in seed-pe arl fishing, boat- 

 building, cutting plank and spars for boats, plant- 

 ing paddy 011 the Linkongan, Lukutan and Sipitong 

 rivers or working sago on the Padas or other 

 rivers that debouch into Padas Bay, The gard 

 woods of Batu Batu and surrounding country 

 have for many years past been well known in 

 in Labuan, and within the last month the La- 

 buan Government has been supplied from Batu 

 Batu with spars of the famous " Bintangor " 

 wood for their new flagstaff. The deposits of coal 

 at Bukit Naloyan are as yet quite undeveloped, 

 and samples have been sent to the Indian and 

 Colonial Exhibition, London. 



But the principal occupation of the immigrants 

 is in gathering the seed-pearl shells {phu-imn 

 pUwenta), called by the natives " seleesip," which 

 abound in I'adas Bay. A flotilla of twenty or 

 thirty boats roams about the bay, generally 

 together as in herring fishing, in search of the 

 oldest shells and when these are found to be too 

 young the boats move on to another bank. It is 

 a rule with the fishermen always to throw back 

 the young shells into the sea, but if a shell has 

 been opened and the oyster destroyed it is not 

 thrown back, as it is said that the dead shells kill 

 the live ones. These shells pay the fishermen in 

 a threefold manner. First, the shells divested ot 

 the oysters fetch in Singapore from $1.80 to 82 

 a picnl, then the oysters dried in the sun only, 

 (not salted,) sell for .about $1 to ?(> a picul in La- 

 buan and thirdly the seed-pearls are sold in La- 

 buan at one .Mayam #1.80, one Basing =10 Ma- 

 yams 180. When a boat comes in, the load of 

 shells is turncil out on the beach. Then each 

 fisherman gets two buckets, these are made of the 

 sheath of the nipa palm, and with a sharp knife 

 manufactured for the purpose, the slicll is opened 

 and the oyster is out oil within ,f of an inch from 

 the hinge of the shell. The oyster falls into one 

 bucket, .and the part clinging near the hinge is 

 sci'.aped off and falls into the other bucket. It is 

 this little bit that contains the seed-pearls, if any, 

 and they are carefully extracted. The oysters are 

 laid ont on mats to dry in the sun and sold in Labuan. 

 A great number of the seed-pearls are disposed 

 ot in the village at Batii Batu. When Uie fisher- 

 man buys his few ueccsaaries at the GUimiman's 



