preparing Potash from Potatoe-tops. 339 
quick, and thereby diminish the quantity of alkali, were they 
burnt in the open air), The ashes must be kept red-hot as long 
as possible: when the fire is strong, tops that are only imper- 
fectly dried may be thrown in, and even green ones will then 
burn well enough. 
The ashes extracted from the hole must be put ina vessel, and 
boiling water be poured upon it, us then the water must be eva- 
por ated : for these two operations potatoe-tops may be used alone 
as firing in the furnace, and the ashes collected. “There remains 
after the evaporation a dry saline reddish substance, known in 
commerce under the name of salin; the more the ashes are 
boiled§ the grayer and more valuable the sa/in becomes. 
The salin wnust then be calcined in a very hot oven, until the 
whole mass presents an uniform reddish brown. In cooling it re- 
mains dry, and in fragments—blueish within, and white on the 
surface ; in which state it takes the name of potass. 
The ashes, exhausted of their alkaline principle, afford excel- 
Jent manure for Jand intended to be planted with potatoes. 
The following is a table of the results obtained in France: 
An acre p! ented with potatoes, at one foot distance, 
giver plants: lr). te lola assis. dong olilaige 140,000 
These 40,000 plants yield, on an average, three 
pounds per plant at least, or of green tops... 120,000 Ibs, 
On drying they are reduced to 2.)  .. 2.) 2. 40,000 Ibs. 
This quantity produces of ashes ..  .. 0...) es) 7,500 ]bs. 
The evaporation gives of ashes exhausted of alkali 5,000 Ibs. 
SHAAN eit ess 3 {Ni wie whieee Me herr Code (RR .P2.500 Ths, 
The salin loses ten to fifteen per cent. in calcination, 
which gives of potash... aeiteet BE Sa 2200 Tbs, 
All these estimates are taken at the lowest; by which it is 
evident that upwards of 2000 pounds of potash may be obtained, 
in addition to an increased crop, from every acre of potatoes, 
or a value far exceeding that of the crop itself, Farmers of 
course will next year vurn this discovery to the best account, in 
planting those potatoes which yield the greatest quantity of tops. 
The expenses of preparing the potash, as above described, in- 
Sheng every thing, is about six guineas per acre, 
** 1 cannot conclude these articles without inviting the cul- 
tivators of England and Ireland to instantly seize the immense 
advantages afforded by the two discoveries here announced. The 
former will fiee us from our tribute to France for brandies ; a 
commerce which the Emperor Napoleon turned to such good ac- 
count during the war—insisting on British vessels, which carried 
over staple commodities to France, to return with cargoes of 
wine and brandy; and the latter will, it is trusted, free com- 
“eabe, and our dvers in particular, of the necessity ‘of applying 
to 
