FERTILIZERS. 



279 



of salt there rested enormous beds of saline 

 compounds knowu to contain a great deal of 

 magnesia and some potash. To get at the salt 

 below, these magnesia and potash salts had to 

 be dug out and dumped on waste land at the 

 mouth of the mine. In 1860 the chemist 

 Rose called attention to the waste, and the 

 government encouraged fertilizing experiments 

 with a view of utilizing this material, and also 

 offered premiums to manufacturers who should 

 devise methods of producing high-grade pot- 

 ash salts from them. In both directions there 

 was complete success. The extent to which 

 the industry has grown may be illustrated 

 by a few figures. The amount of high-grade 

 salts produced has been, according to the best 

 data at hand, in 1862 about 3,000 tons; in 

 1863, 9,000 tons; 1864, 21,500; 1865, 14,700; 

 1866, 26,782; 1867, 25,991, while from this 

 time the production increased until in 1877 it 



reached 106,809 tons. Besides these high- 

 grade materials, very large quantities of infe- 

 rior grades are sold. The bulk of the potash 

 salts in our markets belong to three classes 

 Sulphates, Muriates', and Kainite. The sul- 

 phates are difficult of preparation, costly, and 

 sometimes contain less sulphate of potash than 

 represented. The muriates are rarely below 

 grade, and are for general uses the cheapest 

 and most desirable. The kainite is a low- 

 grade salt containing a small percentage of 

 potash, and a large amount of common salt 

 and magnesium compounds. 



A most useful and satisfactory exhibit of the 

 composition of the commercial fertilizers in 

 our markets is given in a tabular statement, 

 compiled from the most reliable analyses, by 

 Dr. Jenkins, in " The Farmer's Annual Hand- 

 Book for 1882,"* from which we condense the 

 following : 



The Composition of Various Sorts of Commercial Fertilizers, Farm Manures, and other 



Fertilizing Materials. 



* New York, D. Appleton & Co. 



