REPORT OF THE CHEMIST 157 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



doubt but that the percentage of ash in these woods is small, much less than in hard 

 woods, but that there is not any ash is an error. The very ' light ' character of the soft 

 wood ashes, rendering them easy of dissipation by the wind, has, we think, materially 

 assisted in this belief. It is our intention, therefore, when an opportunity permits, 

 to ascertain the amount and composition of the ash in the various British Columbia 

 woods grown on soils of various characters, but in the meantime it will be 

 of interest to furnish the data from a sample of Douglas fir ashes forwarded from 

 Kamloops, B.C., recently analysed in our laboratories. The correspondent sending 

 the ashes says : ' The Douglas fir wood ashes I send are just as taken from the ash heap 

 at the power house here. Kindly let me know if they contain any considerable amount 

 of potash, and if they would be valuable as a fertilizer for an orchard soil.' 

 Our analysis furnished the following data : — _ . 



Moisture -19 



Organic and volatile matter # 90 



Insoluble residue (clay, sand, &c.) 40 "68 



Oxide of iron and alumina 13-95 



Lime 27-13 



Potash 3-12 



Phosphoric acid 1-84 



Microscopic examination of the ' insoluble residue ' revealed the presence of a 

 considerable amount of quartz sand with a certain small proportion of clay. We may 

 fairly presume, therefore, that the sample is not representative of the pure ash of the 

 Douglas fir. Considered as a commercial sample of wood ashes, it may be noted that 

 they are not of equal quality with hardwood ashes purchasable in eastern Canada, 

 which contain, on an average, 5 J per cent of potash. They nevertheless possess a suffi- 

 ciency of this element to give them a distinct value as a potassic fertilizer. And fur- 

 ther, their lime content points to their usefulness for such soils as we have been con- 

 sidering. We would strongly advise farmers, and especially fruit growers, to procure 

 when possible such ashes, feeling assured that it is only from soils comparatively rich 

 in available mineral constituents that vigorous, healthy growth can be obtained. 



TANNERY WASTE. 



This material consists largely of ' fleshings ' or scrapings from the hides after their 

 maceration — the first step in the cleansing process of the hide at the tannery. When 

 this waste is fairly free from hair, leather scraps and other similar substances that 

 resist decay (as is usually the case), we may suppose it to furnish nitrogen that will, 

 more or less readily become converted by nitrification (as for instance, by fermenta- 

 tion in the compost heap, or more slowly in the soil) into forms assimilable by plants. 

 It is consequently to be considered a valuable nitrogenous fertilizer. 



A correspondent in Oakville, Ont., forwarded a month ago a sample for examina- 

 tion. It was a reddish mass of the consistency of cheese, showing white spots or par- 

 ticles throughout and possessed of a most offensive smell. On analysis, we obtained 

 the following data : — 



Analysis of Tannery Waste. 



Water 45-91 



Organic matter 53-42 



Ash or mineral matter '67 



100 -00 



Nitrogen, in organic matter 3 -23 



