74 THE CONjS'ECTICUT AGRICULTURAL 



It would be too much to say that these analyses of single small 

 samples establish any even slight superiority of the brand repre- 

 sented by 5 over the others. Several analyses of samples manu- 

 factured at different times would need to be made in order to give 

 a fair exhibit of the composition of the various brands. Two 

 analyses of Ashton salt, which I am able to refer to, made by 

 Prof. Cook and Prof. Goessman, in 1861, give but 11 and 6 ten- 

 thousandths of magnesium chloride and sulphate, without any 

 calcium chloride. The manufacturing process scarcely admits of 

 entire uniformity in the result. 



The sulphates and chlorides of calcium and magnesium are all, 

 in themselves considered, objectionable ingredients of salt, because 

 they are foreign matters and not salt. With exception of sul- 

 phate of lime they are objectionable on account of their unpleasant 

 taste. The chlorides of magnesium and calcium are further ob- 

 jectionable in table salt, because they greedily attract moisture 

 from the air and make the salt damper than j)ure salt would 

 become. 



A salt containing several per cent, of these bodies would be 

 regarded as quite unfit for dairy use. The presence of a few thou- 

 sandths of them in salt has, however, no appreciable effect on 

 the taste of salt or on the articles it is used to preserve or to 

 flavor. Just to what point they may be increased in quantity 

 without real detriment to the salt, i. e. without noticeably injuring 

 it for its common uses is a nice point to determine. Doubtless 

 each of the samples under consideration is, so far as chemical 

 composition goes, a good salt suited for butter-making, for pork 

 or beef packing or for any domestic purpose, and a tenth of one 

 per cent, of all or any of the sulphates or chlorides of magnesium 

 or calcium added to or taken from them would not be recogniza- 

 ''ble by any of the results of their use. This opinion is not based 

 on any careful comparative trials of various salts of slightly dif- 

 fering purity, but upon the facts that the kinds of salt generally 

 used rarely contain less and often contain more impurities than 

 these analyses reveal, and that these impurities in these quantities 

 are not recognizable by the taste. 



4. " Is lime in salt injurious to its keeping qualities for butter, 

 pork, etc. ?" 



Lime, as quick lime or slacked lime, I suppose, does not impair 

 the keeping quality of the salt, but injures the taste or flavor of 

 the articles salted, and, in case of butter, the appearance. Lime 



