44 THE CONNECTICUT AGRICULTUEAL 



The samples sent from Sherman and New Milford, as " pure 

 saltpeter, such as is used in the manufacture of powder," 811, 

 812 and 813, are variable mixtures of soda-saltpeter (Chili salt- 

 peter) with common saU, the latter predominatij^g, and contain 

 uo potash at all, while as said before such saltpeter as is used in 

 mating gunpowder contains 46.6 per cent, of potash. Pure potash- 

 saltpeter by the Station valuation for 1882 has an estimated value 

 of $136.00 per ton. These " saltpeters" are worth commercially 

 but |43, $39 and |35.75 respectively, and not only are destitute of 

 potash, an essential ingredient of that saltpeter which it is claimed 

 they were represented to be, but they contain 56 to 65 per cent, 

 of common salt, which is not, in general, a benefit to land or crops, 

 even when applied cautiously and in small quantity, and is often 

 an injury, especially on tobacco, the burning quality of which it 

 is believed to impair very seriously. 



The last sample, 819, contains a considerable proportion of 

 potash-saltpeter, and has about double the money-worth of the 

 others, yet nearly 30 per cent, of it is common salt and its cost 

 exceeds its value by more than l^fty dollars per ton. 



Sulphate of Ammonia. 



One sample of this article has been examined the past year with 

 the following result: 



778. Sulphate of Ammonia from the Bradley Fertilizer Co., 

 Boston, Mass. ; sold by H. D. Torrey, Putnam ; sampled and sent 

 by W, I. Bartholomew, Putnam. 



Analysis. 

 Nitrogen* 20.56 



Equivalent Sulphate of Ammonia, 96.90 



Cost per 100 lbs., $ 6.00 



Costof nitrogen per 100 lbs., $29.11 



The quality of this article is unexceptionable. Inferior grades 

 of " Sulphate of Ammonia " sometimes come into the market, 

 which contain a part of their nitrogen in the form of cyanides and 

 sulpho-cyanides of ammonium, and are therefore poisonous and 

 destructive to vegetation. 



