Periodical Literature 563 



manure. The flue dust from gas-producing plants may contain as 

 much as 10 per cent of potash, thus possessing the same value 

 as kainit. 



Other analyses of the ash gave the following figures : 



K2O Per Cent 



1. Coarse ash, combustion very complete 7 . 24 



2. Coarse ash, combustion very complete 5. 08 



3. Flue dust, combustion very complete 9.11 



4. Flue dust, combustion very complete 6.35 



5. Flue dust, coarser than 3 and 4 5 . 89 



Average 6.73 



On the basis of the ordinary price of kainit, ashes with the 

 above composition should be worth from $6 to $8 per ton ; and 

 since ash is almost purely a waste product there is good reason 

 to suppose that it could compete with kainit even in normal times. 



Journal of the Board of Agriculture, May, 1915, pp. 146-148. 



As a result of the determination of the 



Fibre length of 100 fibres in each of QQ specimens 



Lengths of Piiius strohus, it was found that the 



and length varies according to the situation in 



Wood the plant. In a disc taken from a trunk 250 



Resistance years old at about 2-1 inches from the base, 



and also in another taken at a height of 



about 80 feet, the shortest fibres were found near the pith. It 



appears that the length increases towards the periphery, but in 



an irregular manner. No constant fibre length was attained. 



In 26 samples (bolts) taken at from 2^ to 3 inches from the 

 pith, at -i-foot intervals between the butt and the top of the 

 tree, a tendency towards an increase in average length of fibre 

 was apparent for about two-thirds of the height of the tree. 



The relation between the fibre length and the strength values 

 was indeterminate : no direct effect dependent on length alone can 

 be found. The following indications, however, were obtained : 

 (1) from butt to top the specific gravity and strength decreased, 

 but average fibre length increased; (2) in some Loblolly pine 

 (Pinus taeda) the late wood was about twice as strong as the 

 early wood, the relative fibre length being as 2.69 is to 3.03 mm. ; 

 (3) in Rotholz the fibres are also stronger (in compression) and 

 shorter than those in normal wood. Thus the shortest and at 



