KELP. 



Brande ; and a Small portion of this alkali is 

 usually presented in the waste ashes of soap- 

 makers, which many cultivators consider highly 

 valuable as a manure. 



As the use of kelp has been of late much 

 greater than formerly as a manure, it will be 

 useful for the cultivator to learn the proportion 

 of alkali contained in the kinds usually met 

 with in commerce, as determined by Mr. Ja- 

 mieson (Min. of Scottish Isles, vol. ii. p. 248) : 



11*. oz. IDs. 



Barilla from Alicant, good - - - 23 8 in 100 



Tfeneriffe, bad -. - - 8 



Kelp from Norway, indifferent - '2 11 



Shetland, indifferent - - 2 fl 



Lewis, indifferent - - - 2 6 



W. Highlands, much damaged 5} 



Arran 38 



Isla, good ... - 4 



Mull, good .... 4 8 



Morven, good - - - - 4 8 



Skye, good .... 5 



Leith shores - 



- 4 



But, besides the alkali referred to, kelp con- 

 tains iodide of potassium, bromide of potas- 

 sium, and sulphuret of potassium ; all of which 

 probably exert considerable influence on vege- 

 tation. It is well known that seeds sown in 

 pure sand, and watered with a solution of 

 iodine, germinate very rapidly. 



The residuum, when all the soda and com 

 mon salt are extracted from the barilla, 'is 

 principally earthy matters, which are of a very 

 inert nature, and need not be regarded by the 

 cultivator as possessing any peculiar fertilizing 

 properties different from marl, which they 

 much resemble in composition. 



100 parts of these insoluble matters of kelp 

 are composed of 



PrK 



Sulphureted hydrogen and carbonic acid - 14-00 



Carbon 410 



Sulphuric acid -47 



Silica 12-30 



Lime 3260 



MuKiieiia 1850 



Alumina --__..- 15-40 



Iron '77 



Loss 1-86 



100- 



From the quantity of kelp produced on the 

 shores of Scotland, and its reduced price since 

 the peace, which again allowed the unrestricte 

 import of Spanish barilla, and more especiallj 

 since the discovery of a cheap mode of extract 

 ing soda from common salt, the application o 

 kelp as a manure has engaged the serious at 

 tention of the farmers of that part of the island 

 and a committee was some time since appoint 

 ed by the Highland Society of Scotland to repor 

 npon its pretensions ; in much of that repon 

 from which the following extracts are made, 

 cordially agree: 



" Your committee are unwilling to offer an 

 theoretical opinion as to the way in which kel 

 may operate as a manure. From the quantit 

 of alkali which it contains, it may naturally b 

 expected to operate by rendering the anima 

 and vegetable matter soluble, and a fit food fo 

 plants ; but, from the series of facts to be no 

 ticed, kelp would seem to possess other qual 

 lies as a manure. Although it may be benefi 

 cially applied as a dressing by itself, yet th 

 committee are at present inclined to think tha 



KELP. 



ith a view to raising of green crops fc it would 

 e better to mix it in compost with other sub- 

 tances. The selection of these must depend 

 .pon what the farmer can furnish; but the 

 ommittee think that good earth or moss will 

 orm a good compost, and if to this mixture 

 an be added a little vegetable or animal ma- 

 iure, a beneficial result can be relied on. In 

 his way, a few tons of kelp would enable a 

 armer to extend his farm dung over at least 

 our times the quantity of land." 



The relative value of kelp as a manure may 

 je estimated from the following experiments, 

 made in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh : 

 A field upon the estate of Inverleith, possessed 

 y Mr. Hutchinson, was selected, which had 

 )een in wheat in the year 1828, hence it was 

 n some measure in an exhausted state : upon 

 >ne ridge of this field there was sown at the 

 ate of 12 cwt. of kelp per acre ; on a second, 

 at the rate of 10 cwt. per acre ; and on a third 

 at the rate of 4 cwt. per acre. Two other 

 ridges were manured with the best cow and 

 lorse dung, at the rate of 20 tons per acre ; 

 and the whale was sown with wheat late in the 

 spring of 1829. The two ridges which had got 

 the greatest quantity of kelp were equal to that 

 which had the dung, and the ridge which had 

 got-the smallest quantity was decidedly supe- 

 rior to the others. Similar experiments were 

 made upon the same field, by sowing barley 

 after the previous crop of wheat ; the result 

 was, that the barley manured with the kelp 

 was, according to the estimate of the tenant 

 and his Stewart, a much heavier crop than 

 after an application of horse and cow dung, 

 and that the ridge with the smallest quantity 

 of kelp appeared the heaviest crop. 



A portion of the lands of Bangholm were 

 manured with kelp of inferior quality, at the 

 rate of one ton per acre, and the land sown 

 with yellow turnip ; the crop, upon examina- 

 tion, is considered to be fully equal to that part 

 of the field which has been manured with 

 dung. (Baxter's Lib. ofdgr. Knowl. p. 406.) 



Mr. Kerr, of Henfield, has given the result 

 of his experiments on kelp, from which he is 

 of opinion that " 5 cwt. of kelp per Scotch acre 

 will produce a manifest improvement on any 

 crop." (Trans. High. Soc. i. p. 320.) Care must, 

 however, be. taken not to apply too copious a 

 dressing of kelp. Mr. Mackinnon, of Corry, 

 draws the following conclusion from his expe- 

 riments ; he used the ashes of sea-weed burnt 

 in a heap: "of the ashes thus manufactured, 

 20 bushels were allowed to the acre, and dis- 

 tributed in the drills. When the turnips sprout- 

 ed, they had an unhealthy green or rather yel- 

 lowish appearance, but after some time several 

 patches in the field seemed to be growing lux- 

 uriantly, while others seemed to retain their 

 sickly hue. Upon a careful investigation, it 

 was discovered that wherever the ground was 

 deepest, and the ashes of the sea-weed had 

 been most mixed up with the soil, the turnips 

 were best ; and, on the other hand, that where 

 the ashes, not being mixed up with the soil, 

 came in contact with the seed, the turnips did 

 not at all thrive. In clearing the ground the 

 weeds were collected into heaps, and burnt 

 upon the spot ; and it was observed that on 



683 



