PLASTER AND ASHES. 



319 



Nova-Scotia Plaster. 

 (Messrs. Crafts Brothers, Whately, Mass.) 



Ground gypsum 

 Insoluble matter 

 Moisture lost at 100° C. 



Per cent. 



91.68 

 1.50 



7.82 



Ground gypsum sells at from nine to ten dollars in our 

 section of the country. The sample tested was of good 

 average quality as far as composition and mechanical condi- 

 tions are concerned. 



The sample tested is a fair article of its kind. The kiese- 

 rite quite deservedly enters more every j^ear into our agri- 

 cultural experiments, partly as an absorber of ammonia in 

 place of gypsum, partly as an additional ingredient of fer- 

 tilizers for special purposes : its efficiency as a distributer of 

 potash within the soil seems to be less appreciated. 



Limekiln-Ashes. 



(Sample sent on for examination.) 



Per cent. 



3.16 



Trace. 



89.52 



.20 



Phosphoric acid 

 Potassium oxide 

 Carbonate of lime . 

 Moisture, &c. . 

 Insoluble matter, sand, &c., 



The material which is offered for sale under the above 

 name consists, frequently, mainly of air-slacked lime, with but 

 traces of phosphoric acid and potassa, which are the most 

 valuable constituents of wood-ashes. The large amount of 

 phosphoric acid found in the above-described sample of lime- 

 kiln-ash is an exceptional one, and may be due to some inci- 



