114 PRACTICAL FARM CHEMISTRY. 



chemist at last discovered the true nature of the 

 stuff brought up from the bowels of the earth, and 

 then it was found what value there was in the here- 

 tofore despised "cattle salt." Factories were 

 erected, the mined product sorted, ground, and 

 worked up, and soon the "dung salts" were used 

 to quite an extent, especially also in England. The 

 proceeds from these mines were, for a long time, 

 sufficient to cover all the governmental expenses 

 of the little principality, and the people, for a num- 

 ber of years, had the good fortune to be entirely 

 freed from state taxes. The whole mine system 

 has recently become, by purchase, the property of 

 an English syndicate. 



From there we get our supply of potash salts. 



One of these is the muriate or chloride of potash, 



which contains from fifty to fifty-five 



o?Po\a8h. P^^ ^^^^ ^^ potash in a readily soluble 

 form. This potash is rated at four and 

 one half cents per pound by the stations, and a ton 

 of the muriate would therefore be worth about 

 forty -five to fifty dollars. It usually sells for about 

 forty dollars, and, hence, we may consider it a 

 cheap source of this indispensable element of plant 

 food. On the other hand, it needs to be said that 

 this form also contains a considerable percentage of 

 the somewhat objectionable element chlorine, and 

 that when applied in excessive doses to some crops, 

 it may do considerable damage. 



For tree and small fruits, this form of potash can 

 safely be used in almost unlimited quantities. 

 With the light we now have on the subject, it seems 

 that for general farm and orchard uses, muriate is 

 about the cheapest source of potash. 



Sulphate of potash contains from thirty-five to- 



