No. 112.] ^2t)5 



No. 10 Bury street. St. James ) 

 July Uih.lSbl. I 



Robert Hastie, Esq. : 



Dear Sir — I am desirous of ascertaining from some of your pro- 



TiGicn dealers, answers to the following questions -, and coulu you 



obtain them for me without too much trouble, you would greatly 



oblige me. 



Respectfully yours, 



B. P. JOHNSON. 



1. Is Cheshire salt used for packing provisions for the army 

 and Navy of Great Britain, and is it used in the fisheries ? 



A. St. Ubes bay salt for the heading of provisions and Liver- 

 pool salt for padving, and a coarse description of the same is ust-d 

 in the fisheries, 



2. Are the discolorations o'f provisions which sometimes occ«r 

 attributed to the salt or to the wood of the casks ? 



A. To the salt only. 



3. Is it true that the deliquescent chlorides in salt are not in- 

 jurious to butter or cheese 1 



4. What are the most approved salts for packing provisions 

 and for household use in the English market? 



A. The large salt merchants in London, say that b^^er or pork for 

 the navy are salted with the coarse, or coramo" salt, and the casks 

 are generally headed up with St. Ubes hay salt, and there is a finer 

 ■description used for butter, aiul known as butter salt, and the fine 

 ■stoved salt is used for hounOiold purposes; and all these salts are 

 obtained from salt >priiigs.''* 



With regard to tin* disrol(»r;ition of provisions spoken of above, 

 it has frequently \nvn ubservcMl, and many persons attribute ic to 

 the salt; Stephen Smith, E.sq., (;f Syracuse, many }tais since as- 

 ser^vd that the color was from the wood <»f casks. A writer in 

 the report of tlie Comini^siomu- of patent"^, for 1813, p. 221, 



• The (HfTrrcTit namr? arc npjilif'd to the Choshiro salt on account of the different tcnipoi^- 

 imcs at which it u made, and coiunqucnt difference in the size ol giain. 



