643-646. I- Received from Clinton, Mass. 



II. Received from Sunderland, Mass. 



III. Received from Concord, Mass. 



IV. Received from Concord, Mass. 



647-648. I. Received from North Wilbraham, Mass. 

 II. Received from Concord, Mass. 



Moisture at 100^ C, 

 Potassium oxide. 

 Phosphoric acid. 

 Calcium oxide, 

 Insoluble matter. 



Wood ashes for manurial purposes are in our State subject to official 

 inspection, and dealers in that commodity have to secure a license to 

 sell in Massachusetts before they can legally advertise their articles 

 for sale. This circumstance makes it obligatory to the dealer to state 

 the amount of potash and of phosphoric acid they guarantee in 

 these materials ; and to fasten that statement upon the package or 

 car, etc., which contains it. 



Some dealers in wood ashes have adopted of late the practice of 

 stating merely the sum of both, phosphoric acid and potash instead 

 of specifying the amount of each of them present. As phosphoric 

 acid and potassium oxide contained in wood ashes are considered in 

 our section of the country, pound for pound of a nearly equal com- 

 mercial value, from 4.5 to 5 cents per pound each, no particular 

 objection can be raised against a joint statement of both as far as the 

 mere mouey value of the sample is concerned ; yet as this mode of 

 stating the guaranteed composition is apt to lead to misconception 

 and abuse, it ought to be discouraged and discontinued. 



