72 Report op the Acting Director and Chemist of the 



(<?) Fertilizing Materials Containmg Potash Compounds. 



The more common sources of potash compounds for use as fer- 

 tilizers, found in the market, are the following : Carnallite, cotton- 

 seed hull ashes, green-sand marl, kainit, krugite, muriate of jpotash, 

 nitrate of potash, sulphate of potash, sulphate of potash and mag- 

 nesia, tohacco stems, wood-ashes, etc. i 



Carnallite is one of several products, containing potash com- 

 pounds, which come from the mines in and around the town of 

 Stassfurt, northern Germany. The supply of potash compounds of 

 various kinds seems practically inexhaustible. Carnallite contains 

 from 20 to 22 per cent, of muriate of potash, equivalent to 18 to 14 

 per cent, of actual potash, together with chloride of magnesia and a 

 very small amount of sulphate of potash and magnesia. It is essen- 

 tially a mixed chloride or muriate of potash and magnesia. The 

 material is generally purified and concentrated before reaching 

 market. 



Cottonseed Hull Ashes were produced in the south at the cotton- 

 seed-oil factories where the hulls, after being removed from the 

 cottonseed, were used as fuel. Such ashes contain from 15 to 25 

 per cent, of potash, in addition to from 7 to 10 per cent, of phos- 

 phoric acid. They formed a very valuable fertilizer and were much 

 used south in the manufacture of commercial fertilizers. This 

 material is not commonly found now. 



Green-Sand Marl of New Jersey contains, on an average, about 

 5 per cent, of potash, which is in an insoluble form, and is, there- 

 fore, slow in acting as a fertilizer. 



Kainit is the most common product of the German potash 

 mines. It is a mixture of several different compounds, containing 

 23 to 26 per cent, of sulphate of potash, equivalent to 12 to 14 per 

 cent, of actual potash, together with about 35 per cent, of common 

 salt, some sulphate and chloride of magnesia and a small amount of 

 gypsum. 



Krugite is a low-grade potash compound obtained from the 

 German potash mines. It contains from 14 to 16 per cent, of sul- 

 phate of potash, equivalent to 8 to 9 per cent, of actual potash, 

 together with considerable gypsum, sulphate of magnesia and 

 some salt. 



Muriate of Potash, also a product of the Stassfurt mines, is 

 the main source of supply of potash for commercial fertilizers in 

 our market. As taken from the mine it varies in purity, but is 



