30 



BOAED OF AGRICULTUKE. 



[Jan. 



Potash. 



Nitrate of potash, as has been intimated, was formerly 

 used on wheat in England ; but the use of this material in 

 the manufacture of gunpowder has so far increased the 

 price, that it is out of the reach of the farmer. 



Wood ashes constituted the chief source of potash until 

 1868. As early as 1852, a salt mine was opened in Stass- 

 furt. Saxony. Salt was not reached until a depth of eleven 

 hundred feet was reached ; this did not occur until 1857. 

 In digging this shaft, a bed of "potash salts " was passed 

 through. For a time these were regarded as not only 

 worthless, but a hindrance to the salt mining. In 1861 a 

 company was formed to work up these salts, and a factory 

 was built. In 1883, thirty-four factories were engaged in 

 purifying these potash deposits. Only a small part of their 

 out-put (fifteen per cent) is used in fertilizers. 



The first potash landed in this country from the German 

 mines, was consigned to Dr. Gould of Cambridge, Mass., 

 in 1868. 



On the market to-day we find : — 



Muriate of potash, containing . 

 Sulphate of potash, containing . 

 Sulphate of potash (high grade), con 

 Kainit, containing 

 Krugit, containing ... 

 Ashes, containing ... 



. 50 per cent of actual potash. 



. 27 » " " " 

 aining 51 " " " " " 



. 12 " " " " 



Nitrogen. 



Bones contain two and one-half per cent of nitrogen ; 

 nitrate of potash contains thirteen per cent of nitrogen. 

 The next nitrogenous fertilizer was the " Chili saltpeter," 

 a substance mined in South America ; it contains fifteen per 

 cent of nitrogen. The first ship-load of this that reached 

 England found no market. It was then sent to America. 



In 1836 a new material was used in England, the so- 

 called " gas liquor." This is the water through which 

 illuminating gas is washed. This water absorbs the am- 

 monia which comes from the combustion of the coal ; and as 

 ammonia contains nitrogen, it is a nitrogenous fertilizer. 



