As the dealer is only obliged to guarantee the amount of potash 

 and of phosphoric acid present in a given quantity of wood ashes, 

 no serious objection can be raised on the part of the buyer on account 

 of moisture, etc., as long as the article contains the specified amount 

 of both potash and phosphoric acid. 



Wood ashes ought to be bought and sold by weight, and not by 

 measure ; for both moisture and the general character of foreign 

 matters present are apt to seriously affect the weight of a given 

 measure. 



The majority of dealers guarantee from4.5% to o% of potassium 

 oxide in their articles ; from a review of our publications of the 

 last year it will be seen that quite a number of the samples are 

 below the lowest guarantees, showing on the whole that the quality 

 of wood ash sold in 1898 as a potash source has been somewhat 

 inferior as compared with the preceding year. 



Whether this circumstance is due to a general decline of the 

 article or to the management of any particular dealer or importer is 

 difficult to decide on our part as long as farmers do not state the 

 name of the party they have bought of and the cost per ton of the 

 ashes they send on for examination. 



It is for obvious reasons most desirable to ascertain whether the 

 general character of the wood ash is gradually declining from gen- 

 eral causes or whether some parties in particular handle inferior 

 goods. All parties interested in the solution of this question will 

 confer a favor on us by sending with their samples of wood ashes 

 the names of the parties they bought the article of, and the cost per 

 ton at the nearest depot for general distribution. 



The large percentage of lime, from 30 to 40 per cent, found in 

 genuine wood ashes, imparts a special agricultural value to them as 

 a fertilizer, aside from the amount of potash and phosphoric acid 

 they contain. Wherever an application of lime is desired, wood ashes 

 deserve favorable consideration, on account of the superior mechan- 

 ical condition of the lime they furnish. 



LIME KILN ASHES AND MARL. 



649-650. I- Lime Kiln Ashes received from Littleton, Mass. 

 II. Marl received from Lincoln, Mass. 



