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Wood Ashes as a Resource 



OLJfJW 



Editor's Note 



Few persons are accustomed to tbink of ashes as a forest product worth consideriDs. While the ash re- 

 maining when wood is burned is an asset of minor value in comparison with what lumber is worth ; yet, since 

 it is usuaily regarded as waste pure and simple, utilization, even in a small wa;-, should be encouraged. Several 

 interesting matters are connected with the by-products which become available when wood is burned. Ashes, char- 

 coal, and in certain cases, even smoke are of commercial value. The following article is devoted to ashes, and 

 deals chiefly with present conditions and future prospects, though brief references to statistics and past uses are 

 included. 



When wood has been reduced to ashes it is generally considered 

 that the waste is absolute, yet that has not always been the case, 

 nor is it the case now. An English newspaper recently printed as 

 a curiosity "an ash burner's will." The man who made the will 

 died some 250 years ago, and left ash houses, ash ovens and the 

 like, to be divided among his heirs. 



There should be no mystery about the occupation of an ash 

 burner, neither in England nor in America. Wood ashes and their 

 products were once common commodities and to some extent they 

 are commodities yet. The value of the trade is not so large as 

 formerly, but wood ashes are not a waste product, though in most 

 instances they are wasted. 



When wood is burned, the remaining ash represents what the 

 growing tree extracted from the soil, while the smoke that goes 

 into the air represents what the tree derived from the atmosphere. 

 The charcoal, if sufficiently burned, disappears. A small portion 

 of a tree comes from the soil and much from the air. Some trees 

 do not take one pound from the soil to one thousand pounds from 

 the atmosphere, while others may take one from the soil for fifteen 

 or twenty from the air. 



Early Trade in Ashes 

 When English colonists settled on the Atlantic coast from New 

 England to North Carolina, the abundance of wood suggested to 

 them that there might be profit in the sale of ashes. In 1621, less 

 than fifteen years after the founding of Jamestown, the Virginians 

 were selling ashes at from thirty to forty dollars a ton for export 

 to England. Wood was cheap in Virginia. It could be had for the 

 cutting; yet, it is doubtful if ashes could be burned at that price, 

 if carried on as a business. What was sold must have been scraped 

 together where log heaps were burned in clearing land, or from ash 

 dumps near residences where the open fire places consumed wood 

 by the cord. An early law required the colonists to collect ashes 

 from the clearings. On page 151, vol. I., of Hening's "Statutes at 

 Large," Virginia, this law is recorded: 



"Every master of a family within the several plantations of this 

 colony shall use their best endeavors to preserve and keep in dry 

 and tight houses or casks all those ashes wl)ich shall proceed and 

 be made by the wood that is burned in clearing their grounds, 

 that they may be ready at all times to be delivered to those who 

 shall require the same to make experiments thereof." 



Hickory was then abundant in Tide-water Virginia, and was the 

 best wood for fuel. It is high in ash, and in the burning of thirty- 

 five cords, about one ton of ashes could pe secured. In the large 

 fireplaces and open cabins of that time, an average family prob- 

 ably burned that many cords a year; but if the fuel were pine, at 

 least 100 cords had to be burned to secijre a ton of ashes. 



In the region now comprised in thg states of Maine and New 

 Hampshire, a large business was carried on in wood ashes about 

 1670, and to some extent it has continued until the present time. 

 Domestic Soap Making 

 Without wood ashes, the domestic soap supply during the past 

 3,000 years would have been in a bad way. In the first half of the 

 nineteenth century in Canada -there were communities which had 

 little income except from ashes or potash sold. It is evident, 

 however, that their income was generally small. 



The burning of ashes wag a favorite business undertaken by 

 negroes who had run away from slavery in the South and had 

 settled in Canada. No capital was required, as wood was free; and, 

 tbsugh the income was small, the work was easy and served to 

 attract a good many people. As late as 1898 Canada exported 

 annually 1,323 barrels of potash and pearl ash, the equivalent of 

 —22— 



more than 20,000 barrels of ashes. According to L. A. Groth's book, 

 "The Potash Salts," published in London in 1902, the imports 

 of Canadian ashes products were used in making soap for the 

 British navy. 



A century ago eighty per cent of the potash shipped from New 

 York and Boston was made from sugar maple wood. 

 The Ubiquitous Ash Hopper 

 The bulk of wood ashes employed in soap making during pioneer 

 times, and even more recently, is not shown in published statistics. 

 Nobodj' thought it worth while to compile figuies on so common a 

 subject as soapmaking in the back yards of farm houses and vil- 

 lage residences; yet there was no domestic industry more uni- 

 versally followed. Every family made its own soap, as it made 

 its own clothing and shoes. No expert knowledge of chemistry 

 was necessary to make a kettle of soap, as it was done in rural 

 communities up to half a century ago. The art is not yet lost in 

 some localities. 



In anticipation of soapmaking day, wood ashes were shoveled 

 from stoves and fireplaces during the winter and were collected 

 in barrels and bins. Grease and fat from the kitchen and smoke 

 house were laid aside to be ready when wanted. 



The ash hopper or ash gum was always in evidence. It was a 

 necessary article in practice, but it was not a thing of beauty, 

 though it usually occupied a conspicuous place, often "between 

 the house and the big road." 



During the first warm days of spring, the winter's accumulation 

 of ashes were deposited in the ash hopper and water was poured on 

 until the whole mass was thoroughly soaked. 



The lye, which is a caustic liquor of a color resembling red 

 wine, was drained into a trough. For boiling, it was placed in large 

 iron kettles, grease and other necessary ingredients were added, 

 and a couple hours of boiling completed the work. 



A prevalent superstition required that soap, while boiling, should 

 be stirred with a sassafras stick. Commercial soap makers took 

 advantage of that conceit and scented their soap with sassafras 

 oil, seeking thereby to convey the impression that it had been 

 stirred with a sassafras stick. It is needless to say that all the 

 odor which could be imparted by stirring with a sassafras stick 

 would not be noticeable. 



Antiquity op Soap Making 

 As an interesting commentary on the use of wood ashes in soap- 

 making, a curious description is quoted below from an epic poem 

 believed to have been composed in Finland 3,000 years ago. The 

 quaint account shows that family soap was made then almost pre- 

 cisely as it was made in America up to fifty years ago. The 

 Finnish poem is known as the "Kalevala," and was the model 

 followed by Longfellow in writing "Hiawatha." In the follow- 

 ing extract from the old epic a blacksmith is giving orders: 

 "Fill with heat the honey chambers. 



Lay the faggots on the fireplace, 



Lay the smaller woods around them, 



Pour some water through the ashes. 



Make a soap of magic virtue 



Thus to cleanse ray blackened visage." 



Then .\nnikki, kindly sister, 



Quickly warmed her brother's bathroom, 



Warmed it with the knots of fir trees 



Which the thunder-winds had broken ; 



Gathered pebbles from the flresfream, 



Threw them in the heating waters ; 



Broke the tassels from the birch trees, 



Steeped the foliage in hone.v. 



Made a lye from milk and ashes. 



Made of these a strong decoction. 



