14 



t£[E CfiEMlSTBY 0$" THE FAKM 



as to the stiffness of the stem. The grass growing on 

 peat bogs also contains scarcely any silica, though 

 silica is abundant in ordinary hay. Silica may, how- 

 ever, discharge useful functions. In AVolff's experi- 

 ments, although the presence of silica made little 

 difference in the weight of the oat plant, it consider- 

 ably increased the proportion of corn. 



The composition of a few typical ashes will be 

 found in the following table. By " pure ash " is 

 understood the ash minus charcoal, sand, and carbonic 

 acid. The ash of leguminous plants is especially rich 

 in carbonates. 



ASri CONSTITUENTS OF PLANTS (WOLFF). 

 1. Ash Constituents :n 1,000 Dry Substance. 



Wheat grain 



,, straw 



Bean grain . . 



,, straw . . 



Red clover in 

 bloom 



Mangel root 



„ leaf 



Potato 



Beech timber* 



Beech leaves 

 (August)* 



Total 

 Pure 

 Ash 



19-6 

 53-7 

 36-3 



KoO 



6-11 

 7-33 



NaaO 



041 

 0-74 



15-05 0-39 



53-523 14 0-91 



CaO 



0-64 



3-09 



1-81 



14-25 



68-6 22 15 1-35 23-95 



I I 

 75-8 39-5812-33, 2-83 



47-09 29-8216-34 



22-76 1-12 



153-4 



37-9 



4-3 



49-1 



MgO 



1-23 0-08 



9 90 



1-00 

 1-62 



0-80 14-30 



2-36 

 1-33 

 2-60 

 3-OG 



7-48 

 3-26 

 14-62 

 1-87 

 0-48 



3-66 



FeaOa 



0-25 

 0-33 

 0-17 

 0-6S 



0-74 

 0-57 

 2-16 

 0-42 

 0-05 



0-43 



P2O5 S03| SiOa 



9-26 0-08, 0-38 



I I 

 2-58 1-32 36-25 



14-ll'l-23 0-24 



3-41 2-09 3-75 



6-612-22 1-85 



I I 



6-47 2-29 1-55 



9-97 8 -61' 5-57 



I I 



6-392-47^ 0-77 



0-290-06 0-26 



4 081-1814-0/ 



Mau^ancse waa an ingredieut of this ash, though not mentioned in the tftblo. 



