84 ESSEX SOCIETY. 



contain, also, a portion of the alkali which is decomposed by 

 the action of the atmosphere, and the water in the soil prepares 

 it for the food of plants. 



As we have already spoken of the use of mud, it is proper 

 here to say, that ashes may be mixed with mud in the propor- 

 tion of six or eight bushels to the cord. The mud is better, 

 if dug in the autumn, though the mixture might be made 

 in the spring, or on application to the soil. If leached ashes 

 are used, the proportion may be about one to three. In this 

 case the two substances mutually assist each other, and the 

 compound is, perhaps, better than either alone would be. So 

 potash added to peat mud, makes a compound equal to the 

 best stable manure. 



In these remarks no mention has been made of coal ashes as 

 a top dressing. There is a very common impression that these 

 are worthless. We have known of their use in but few in- 

 stances with decided advantage. On clay soils they may, per- 

 haps, be of some value, but other substances will be found 

 more profitable. In this connection we should allude to the 

 practice of burning sea-weed as a manure. The ashes of it 

 are spread upon grass and pasture land. They form a very 

 useful and powerful stimulant, but the process of burning sea- 

 weed causes the loss of its most fertilizing qualities. The 

 most common and efficient mode of application is to carry it 

 directly upon the grass as a top dressing. The coarse rock- 

 weed and kelp decay in a much shorter time than the fine sea 

 weed, and are, perhaps, better than this. Whenever sea weed 

 is used, it is best on sandy or gravelly soils. From twenty- 

 five to thirty, or even forty cart loads to the acre, are some- 

 times applied. Peat ashes form, in some cases, a valuable top 

 dressing for grass and pasture lands. In Holland, where every 

 fertilizer is preserved with care, peat ashes as well as wood and 

 coal ashes, are highly esteemed. The great value of the first 

 is well known to many, and if those who have them will spread 

 them upon grass at the rate of fifteen or twenty bushels on the 

 lighter, and thirty or forty on the heavier soils, they will be 

 abundantly repaid. 



If what has been said be true, and it is the result of many 



