On Barilla, as a Manure. 93 



different specimens of soap ashes, instituted by the gen- 

 tleman I have spoken of, it was found that the best 

 contained no more than ten pounds of alkali in a ton ; 

 and in some, where kelp had been used instead of Ba- 

 rilla, a ton of ashes contained no more than three pounds 

 of alkali. It was this discovery that first induced him 

 to try the pure Barilla, on the supposition that the al- 

 kali in the ashes was what imparted fertility. If this 

 be so, two hundred weight of Barilla will benefit an 

 acre of land as much as twenty tons of the best ashes. 

 Impressed with this idea, he has collected clay, pond 

 mud, scraping of roads, weeds, and every rubbish and 

 refuse of the garden and fields, adding to every ton 

 ten or twelve pounds of Barilla strewed over it ; and, 

 after lying a length of time, the whole has been turn- 

 ed : what its effect will be on the land has not been yet 

 fully ascertained, but he is sanguine in the hope that it 

 will be equal to a dressing of dung. The change pro- 

 duced on the whole mass is apparent; it has a whitish 

 nitrous appearance, and is become mellow, and he 

 thinks it will be peculiarly adapted for light soils and 

 top dressings. 



Applied in its pure state, it would seem best calcu- 

 lated for sour infertile clays, impregnated with metal- 

 lic oxides ; and from being so powerful an alkali, equal- 

 ly proper for peaty soils ; in both cases laying hold of 

 and neutralising the superabundant acid, sweetening 

 the soil, and producing fertility ; but its effects are yet 

 too little known to hazard general conclusions, or to 

 say for what soils it may be adapted, or how often, 

 and at what intervals it may safely be applied. 



