Chlorure or Muriate of Potash 



tion to the chlorures of sodium and magnesium, 

 which are deliquescent, and is therefore easier to keep 

 than kainite. It ordinarily comes from Stassfurt, 

 where it is generally obtained by the treatment of 

 camallite. The manure of commerce is never pure, 

 it always contains chlorure of sodium (NaCl), a little 

 chlorure of magnesium (MgCU), a little sulphate of 

 magnesia (MgS04) water, and some impurities. If it 

 were pure it would contain 63-1 per cent. K2O. Com- 

 mercially it is known as chlorure of potash ; ist, 

 the three times concentrated, which contains nearly 

 30 per cent. K2O, and, 2nd, the five times concen- 

 trated, which contains nearly 50 per cent, potash 

 K2O. This is the better form. Chlorure of potash 

 constitutes the concentrated potassic manure most 

 generally used, because its unit of K2O is less dear 

 than in the concentrated sulphate [K2SO4], more- 

 over, the advantage of using it at a great distance 

 from its place of origin is clear, because of the con- 

 siderable cost of transport, which increases the price 

 of the imit of K2O in the poorer product. The five 

 times concentrated contains three times as much 

 potash as kainite ; so that though the K2O costs less 

 to the unit in the kainite at the place of origin, it 

 will cost more at its destination, because it will take 

 four tons of kainite to equal one of KCl. Thus the 

 carriage of kainite costs more than the cost to buy. 

 Muriate of potash is also obtained from salins of 

 beetroots and ashes of seaweed . It sometimes contains 

 55 per cent. K2O ; very often, however, it does not 

 contain more than 50 per cent. Seaweed ash ought 

 to attract more attention just now because potash 

 from other sources is, and will be, difficult to obtain. 



77 



