246 Ashes as Manure. [^ay, 



a spider "building Lis web ; six times the spider attempted to fasten one 

 of his supporting cables — six times the spider failed, but the seventh he 

 was successful. The Scottish king took heart of grace from the perse- 

 verance of the insect. He had boen six times defeated, but the seventh 

 was the battle of Bannockburn, quite as important in that day, as the 

 Malakoff. These coincidences are interesting, and convey a good lesson. 

 There are Malakoffs in every man's path, and if he will but persevere 

 till the seventh time, he will be sure to have them at last. Persevere 

 to the end !• — Morning Herald. 



ASHES AS MANURE. 



The common wood-ashes of the hearth constitute one of our most 

 important fertilizers. Yet no sight is more common than piles of ashes 

 heaped up in some corner of the door-yard, and left to leach away the 

 alkaline elements that might have greatly benefitted the soil of neigh- 

 boring garden and field. In some portions of the country ashes can be 

 easily obtained in any quantities, and at trifling expense. And such is 

 their value as a fertilizer, that they should be taken from the hearths 

 and carefully preserved, till corn and potatoes have risen two or three 

 inches above the surface, and then cast a handful of ashes at the root of 

 the plants, just before hoeing: the hoeing soon after, by covering the 

 ashes, and mingling them with the soil, secures their qualities to the 

 soil. 



Ashes contain all the inorganic substances of the wood or plants con- 

 sumed in producing them. Some of these substances are soluble in 

 water, and some are insoluble ; but it so happens that, in their combi- 

 nation, those which are soluble in water, form a proper solvent for those 

 which would otherwise be insoluble. For instance, potash is soluble in 

 water, and silica is not ; but, when potash is dissolved in water, then 

 this solution becomes a solvent of the silica contained in the ashes, and 

 thus prepares it for glazing the stalks of cane, corn, wheat, etc. By 

 leaching, ashes part with the greater portion of their potash, which is a 

 positive loss of value in manure, and likewise deprives the soil of its 

 appropriate solvent of silica — hence the value of leached ashes, as a 

 manure, depends upon the lime and phosphoric acid that they still 

 retain. 



By their alkaline qualities, ashes neutralize acids in the soil, and 



