84 



GENESEE FARMER. 



April. 



Nitre in old Ash Heaps. 



Mr. Editor — The question lias been disputed 

 whether nitre will accumulate in wood ashes, un- 

 der any circumstances, unless in contact with 

 decaying animal and vegetable matter. It is 

 known to boilers of potiish, and others that have 

 observed the finishing process termed " melting," 

 that a very inflamable gas is given olF that is of- 

 ten troublesome to the workmen, and imputed by 

 them to the effect of nitre existing in the 

 ashes before lixiviatiou. The advocates of the 

 afiirmative refer to the accumulation of nitre in 

 tiic IMammoth Cave in Kentucky, and other sim- 

 ilar places, in confirmation of their opinion. — 

 T.'iose who maintain the opposite opinion con- 

 tend, (excepting the electric agency,) that nitric 

 acid is foi-med only during the decay of animal 

 and vegetable matter, by the union of the nitro- 

 gen of the decaying mass witli the oxygen of the 

 air superinduced by the presence of an alkali, as 

 it is supposed to take place in the artificial nitre 

 beds. 



If some one of your scientific correspondents 

 will decide this question, and explain the phe- 

 nomenon alluded to, attending the " melting" 

 process, tlirough the Genesee Fai-mer, it will 

 suijscrvc the cause to v/hich its columns are de- 

 voted. Farmer C. 



P. S. I would add, by way of explanation, 

 that the question was started by the inquiry 

 whether the refuse ashes of an ashery that had 

 loin in a very large pile a number of years, had 

 improved their qualities for agricultural purposes, 

 by generating nitre. C. 



REiMARKs. — Nitrification is a chemical phe- 

 nomenon which, at best, is involved in no little 

 obscurity. It is known that much more nitrogen 

 is obtained in the nitrates formed in artificial ni- 

 tre beds, than is furnished by the decaying or- 

 ganised matter. T4^is can onl}^ be accounted for 

 by admitting that nitrification, like oxydization, 

 is a kind of combustion, where nitrogen, after 

 nitrification has commenced, is drawn direct!}' 

 from the rcttviosphere to keep up the chemical ac- 

 tion, just as oxygen is drawn from the atmos- 

 phere to keep up combustion after the chemical 

 combination of carbon and oxygen has once start- 

 ed. If tliis explanation be tlie true one, as we 

 think it is, the fact that, nitrogen can be taken 

 from the air, and, in connection with oxygen, 

 combined with lime, potash, and soda, in a well 

 constructed compost heap, is a matter of great prac- 

 tical importance. 



Whether a heap of leached ashes will, or will 

 not form a kind of artificial nitre bed, for the ac- 

 cumulation of nitre, will depend on the quantity 

 of organic matter each heap may possess. It is 

 barely possible that, the presence of nitrogenous 

 ■'substances undergoing decomposition, is not nec- 

 e.ssary to begin the formation of the nitrate of 

 .potash, in an old ash heap. But we know of no 

 direct experiments which demonstrate such to be 



the case. There is, however, more or less car- 

 bonaceous matter in all ashes, and doubtless some 

 nitrogen. It is questionable whether this organ- 

 ic matter is in a condition to aid in forming nitre. 

 Rain water falling during thunderstorms on heaps 

 of old ashes, and perhaps at other times, brings 

 with it not only ammonia, but nitrous or nitric 

 acid, which, like the ammonia that rises from 

 manure in stables, and aids in forming nitrates 

 on plastered walls, may produce nitrate of pot- 

 ash in ash heaps. These nitrates, however, are 

 very soluble, and most of them will doubtless 

 be washed out, just as the soluble potash is leach- 

 ed from freshly burned fS^ies. 



Every former should place his leached ashes, 

 after making soap, under cover in compost with 

 fermenting manure — leaving an open space 

 through the centre of the heap for the air to pass 

 through as in a proper nitre bed. A sound dis- 

 cretion must be used in applying water to mois- 

 ten the mass. By this process, if we can credit 

 the results said to be attained in artificial nitre 

 beds, the nitrogen of the atmosphere may be 

 transformed into a most valuable fertiliser of 

 the soil. 



The gas given oft' from melting potash which 

 deflagrates (flashes like powder) is oxygen, which 

 is not itself combustible, but a supporter of com- 

 bustion. This gas is highly concentrated in ni- 

 trates of J) )tash and soda, which in conjunction 

 with intensely heated carbonaceous matter, being 

 set free, an explosive 'combustion or deflagration 

 takes place. 



Analysis of the Mineral Elements la 



Wheat. 



TuE following analysis of the ash of wheat is 

 given Ijy Dr. Will, a gentleman that jjossesses 

 a high Euro])ean reputation as an analyst. — 

 We have confidence in its correctness. 



100 parts contain 



Potash from 22 to 34 pvTrts, 



Soda It; 



I,iiiio 2 to .3 " 



Magnesia 9 to 13 " 



reroxido of iron 1 " 



IMiosphoric acid 49 " 



Dr. Will gives 2 per cent, more phosplioric 

 acid than M. Boussingault. The latter found as 

 the average of his analyses 47 per cent, of jihos- 

 phoric acid in the ash of seed \\heat. 



There is an egregious ilunder or error in the 

 table of Prof. Johnston's x\gricultural Chemistry, 

 where the author professes to quote the analysis 

 of Dr. Sprcngel of the ash of wheat. The 

 amount of phosphoric acid is given by Prof. J., 

 both in the London and American edition, at 

 only one tenth of the sum stated by Dr. Spren- 

 gel. There are other errors in the table equally 

 inexcusable, which we shall take an early oppor- 

 tunity to jioint out — not having room in this 

 number to go into the discussion of the suliject 

 on its merits. 



