74 Report of the Acting Director and Chemist of the 



Coal-asbes possess little value for the potash contained in them, for 

 it is very small. 



Below we present a tabulated summary, showing the amount of 

 potash contained in different commercial fertilizing materials. 



Table Giving Approximate Amount of Potash in Fertilizing 



Materials. 



MATERIALS CONTAINING POTASH. 



Carnallite 



Cottou seed-Lull ashes 



Kainit 



Krugite 



Muriate of potash (80 to 85 per cent) 



Nitrate of potash 



Sulphate of potash (low grade) 



Sulphate of potash (high grade) . ... 

 Sulphate of potash and magnesia .. . 



Waste from powder works 



Wood-ashes (unleached) 



Wood-ashes (leached) 



{d) Farm-Produced Fertilizing Materials. 



Economic Value of Farm-Manures. — A fair estimate of the 

 fertilizing value of the manure annually produced by the farm 

 animals of the United States places the sum at the enormous figure 

 of over two thousand million dollars. This estimate is based on the 

 number of farm animals and on the amount of nitrogen, potash, and 

 phosphoric acid excreted in their manure. The values given to 

 these forms of plant-food are those commonly assigned to them in 

 the form of commercial fertilizers. A similarly conservative esti- 

 mate would place the value of the farm-manures produced annually 

 in Kew York State at one hundred million dollars. It will thus be 

 readily seen that the farm-produced manures assume an economic 

 importance which has not been accorded them by the average 

 farmer. 



Definition of Stable or Farmyard Manure. — Stable or farm- 

 yard manure consists of the solid and liquid excrements of animals 

 fed upon the farm, mixed with straw and waste products of the farm. 



Variation in Composition of Farm-Manures. — The composi- 

 tion of stable-manure varies greatly, depending on several conditions, 

 among which the following may be mentioned : 



