ANTHRACITE COAL ASHES. 123 



There are always cinders enough to pay for sifting, 

 and, when sifted, soap-makers are usually willing to 

 pay a small price for them. This shows that they 

 contain soluble matter enough to be well worth sav 

 ing. We have no very good analyses of anthracite 

 ash. The English bituminous coals contain 8 to 12 

 per cent of lime and magnesia, and some soda, the 

 remainder being chiefly silica and alumina. The ash 

 from American bituminous coals probably resembles 

 the English in its character. Some partial examina 

 tions made in my own laboratory at Yale College, 

 indicate small quantities of phosphates in anthracite 

 ash, and in the specimens examined about two per cent 

 of substances soluble in water. Such facts all show 

 that these ashes should be preserved, and applied either 

 as a top dressing upon grass, or ploughed in as a part 

 of composts. They would have much of the beneficial 

 mechanical effect of common ashes, and are also good 

 for sowing with portable manures. 



It has been said that when placed around trees in 

 large quantities, they are injurious; and this is proba 

 bly true, because they have something of a caustic 

 character, but it is no reason for their condemnation; 

 wood ashes, or any of the powerful manures which 

 we have been describing, such as guano or the nitrates, 

 would do the same if applied with like freedom. A 

 manure which is highly beneficial in small quantity, 

 may, in large quantity, be perfectly destructive to 

 vegetation. 



SECTION V. OF PEAT ASHES, SOOT, ETC. 



In all situations where peat is burned, the ashes 

 will be found worth something as manure. They 

 usually contain 5 or 6 per cent of potash and soda, con 

 siderable quantities of lime, magnesia, iron, etc., being 

 therefore worth about as much as the poorer kinds of 



