ASHES. LEY. SOOT. 105 



the service they had already performed in the plants 

 from the combustion of which they came. They have 

 important effects when mixed in compost heaps. 



350. The ashes of sea coal and anthracite are not with 

 out value, and have a good effect upon cold, stiff soils, and 

 are found an excellent top-dressing for grass, even 011 light 

 soils. As they absorb water and the gases, they are deo 

 dorizers, and retain the offensive gases for the food of 

 plants. They have a slow but good effect, scattered 

 among trees, and are particularly valuable in the forma 

 tion of walks and roads. 



351. Since ashes lose some of their good qualities by 

 having ley drawn from them by leaching, Ley itself must 

 be useful as a manure ; and not only ley, but that which 

 is left after the ley has been made into soap by combining 

 with fats and oils, and done its office as soap by taking 

 dirt from clothes, dishes, faces and hands. Soap suds 

 and dish water, therefore, are so valuable that they ought 

 never to be lost or thrown away. They have an excellent 

 effect if sprinkled upon grass or other growing crops, or 

 poured upon compost heaps. 



352. Soot is a precious manure, since it is made up 

 of carbon, in the state of the finest powder, and is full of 

 volatile salts. In Flanders, it is reserved for beds of colza, 

 which it protects against plant lice. In England, it is 

 scattered upon meadows, where it promotes, the vegeta 

 tion of grass, while it destroys moss. Three large crops 

 of clover have been got in one year by the use of it. The 

 soot from bituminous coal is still better than that from 

 wood. 



353. As Carbonate of Potash and Carbonate of Soda are 

 the forms in which potash and soda are found in ashes, 



