318 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The sample was represented to contain 36 per cent of po- 

 tassium oxide, or GG.S per cent of sulphate of potassa. It is 

 a product of home manufacture. Both samples were col- 

 lected of Messrs. W. H. Bowker & Co., Boston, Mass. Sul- 

 phate of potassa, containing 80 per cent of that compound, 

 which corresponds to 43.3 per cent of potassium oxide, has 

 been sold at sixty-five dollars per ton of two thousand 

 pounds ; in small quantities, at four cents per pound. Sam- 

 ples like the above, containing from 60 to 65 per cent of 

 the sulphate of potassa, have been sold at from fifty-eight to 

 sixty dollars per ton, and at three cents and a half per pound. 

 German potash-salts, containing from 22 to 26 per cent of 

 sulphate of potassa, have been offered in the market at 

 twenty-five dollars per ton; whilst low-grade kainits, con- 

 taining from 22 to 26 per cent of sulphate of potassa, sold 

 at from eighteen to twenty dollars per ton. 



Magnesia containing German Potash-Sah 



Potassium oxide 

 Sodium oxide 

 Magnesium oxide . 

 Calcium oxide (lime) 

 Sulphui'ic acid 

 Chlorine 

 Insoluble matter 

 Moisture 



(Kainif). 



Per cent. 



11.70 



18.97 



9.01 



3.29 



17.96 



u.m 



2.37 

 5.00 



Salines like the above sample, are, in most cases, safest 

 applied in the autumn, or in the earlier part of the spring : 

 they produce, like all German potash-salts, as a general rule, 

 more satisfactory results upon a loamy soil than upon either 

 a clayish or sandy soil. The native Leopoldhall kainit has 

 of late largely been used in Germany in place of the lower 

 grades of so-called artificial kainits, and with good re- 

 sults. It has been noticed, that, in case of an early appli- 

 cation, its objectional large amount of chlorides passes rapidly, 

 with or without a previous transformation, into the subsoil, 

 aiding thereby in the diffusion of the potassa present. For 

 deep-rooting forage-plants are the kainits in particular recom- 

 mended. 



