Natural Deposits of Potash in Germany. 415 



common salt, and no less than 24 per cent, of water, which chloride of 

 magnesium readily attracts from the atmosphere. For five years 

 nothing was done with these salts, but they were considered a great 

 nuisance to the neighbom-hood, poisoning the streams and the land. 

 At length the attention of manufactiu-ers was directed to them. 



Wherever there is a refuse of which nobody else can make anything, 

 it generally falls into the hands of the agriculturist, who is fond 

 of buying what is cheap, and often fancies that he obtains a good 

 result because he spends little money on his purchase. The trials 

 made of the crude potash-salts were unfavourable in every instance — a 

 fact for which we can readily account if we look at their constitution. 

 Chloride of magnesium is a highly deliquescent salt; it is very strong 

 and pungent ; it destroys vegetable matter, and, like many other very 

 soluble salts which cannot be fixed in the soil, is vmquestionably inju- 

 rious to vegetation. 



It was not until thi-ee or fom" years ago that a German chemist, 

 Dr. Frank, succeeded in obtaining much purer salts of potash from 

 these crude skim-salts. By a pecvdiar process of crystallization, Dr. 

 Frank succeeded in producing muriate of potash containing from 20 

 to upwards of 80 per cent, of pure chloride of potassium. At the 

 l)resent time there are four principal varieties of salts of potash manu- 

 factured at Stassfurth. The first quality contains from 80 to 85 

 per cent, of chloride of potassium, and last autumn it was sold in 

 Germany at 12?. a ton; the second quality contains 60 per cent., and 

 is sold at about 11. a ton ; the third quality, containing from 40 to 50 

 per cent, makes (SI. a ton ; the foiu-th and last quality contains from 

 20 to 24 per cent, of sulphate of potassium — not chloride of potassium 

 — and is at the present time sold in Germany at 3Z. a ton. Nos. 1 and 

 2, the first and second qualities, are sent almost entirely to England, 

 and used for producing nitrate of potash by a double decomposition 

 already referred to. The chloride of sodium remains in solution, and 

 this is afterwards evaporated and disposed of to the neighbouring 

 farmers. There is always a little nitrate left in the crude salt, obtained 

 from the gunpowder manufactories which make their own nitrate. I 

 would recommend this matter to the consideration of agriculturists 

 living in the neighbom-hood of such manufactories. Niunbers 3 and 

 4 arc used chiefly for agricultural purposes ; and perhaps the fourth 

 quality more especially deserves the notice of the agriculturist, 

 inasmuch as the third is too dear, at any rate at the present time, and 

 also contains chloride of potassium, which absorbs moisture, and cannot 

 be kept dry for any length of time, nor be spread out evenly with 

 the hand or sown by the maniu'c-drill. In the fom'th quality potash 

 occui's as sulphate of potash, and the salt is consequently dry, and 

 better suited for agricultm-al purposes. Crude salts of sulphate of 

 potash, containing from 20 to 24 per cent, of pm-e sulphate, as a dry 

 powder, can now be obtained in a tolerably fine condition ; for lately 

 German manufacturers have dried the salt hard, and passed it through 

 millstones. I have before me an analysis of good sulphate of potash ; 

 and I have made one myself of a sample which, for experimental pur- 

 poses, I obtained last year. My analysis does not coincide with that 



VOL. I. — S. S. 2 E 



