104 OF FERTILIZERS. 



evening is on the plants, that it may stick, but not in 

 rainy weather. 



346. The other sulphates are also useful. Sulphate of 

 soda is said to produce good effects upon clover and other 

 green crops. And so also is sulphate of magnesia good 

 for these crops and for potatoes. 



347. Ashes. In Westphalia there is a proverb that 

 &quot; he pays double who buys no ashes.&quot; It is a fact often 

 observed that, on strewing wood ashes on a meadow which 

 has long been mown, thousands of clover plants make 

 their appearance, where none were visible before. 



Ashes are made up of salts, such as silicates, phos 

 phates, sulphates and carbonates. The carbonates and 

 sulphates of potash and soda, as found in ashes, are 

 soluble and are dissolved out by leaching. The silicates, 

 phosphates and carbonates of lime, magnesia, iron and 

 manganese, are insoluble and thus remain in leached 

 ashes. A portion also of silicate of potash remains undis- 

 solved. 



Far the larger part of leached ashes is carbonate of 

 lime. The next is phosphate of lime or bone dust. 



248. Unleached wood ashes are of great value in the 

 cultivation of many crops, especially Indian corn, turnips, 

 beets and potatoes, because of the great amount of car 

 bonate and other salts of potash which they contain, and 

 so important is potash to these plants that they are often 

 called potash plants. 



349. Leached ashes are of less general value, but still 

 are a very valuable fertilizer, by reason of the salts which 

 they contain, which, though not soluble in simple \valrr, 

 may be rendered soluble by the influence of other salts, 

 of air, and of the vital power of plants, and may be thus 

 again taken up into the circulation, and again perform 



