FARMERS' REGISTER— DUTCH ASHES, &c. 



375 



degree sproulcd, but that all their original flavor 

 was preserved." 



CHARLES WIIITLAVV. 



In order to preserve potatoes in sand or soil, it is 

 not necessary to pack them in casks or other ves- 

 sels. They may be mixed with a due quantity of 

 the earth of the field in which they have grown, 

 and put into bins in cellars, or buried in holes dug 

 in the ground. The earth should be in such quan- 

 tity as to keep them from the air and from the gene- 

 ral contact with each other. Placed in this man- 

 ner, they will not sutTer from the heat nor frost, if 

 deposited in a cellar which freezes. If surrounded 

 by each they will receive little or no injury from 

 frost. It is wrong to suppose that the earth or sand 

 in which they are imbedded, should be perfectly 

 dry. Some degree of moisture is necessary, in or- 

 der to preserve the life of root. If the vital or 

 vegetative principle is destroyed, they will soon 

 decay, by a sort of dry rot. They may, however, 

 it is said, be cut into slices, and dried in an oven or 

 kiln, and will then remain sweet and sound for 

 years. We suppose that either the native juice of 

 the potatoe should be expelled by heat, or the vege- 

 tative principle preserved by moisture, and a se- 

 clusion from the air. 



THE USE AND VALUE OF DUTCH ASHES, AS A 

 MANURE FOR CLOVER. 



Extracted from Sir John Sinclair's .AgrkuUural state of the Ne- 

 therlands. 



[The remarkable manure described in the fol- 

 lowing extract was referred to in the Abbe Mann's 

 Observations on the A griculture of the Netherlands, 

 (which is one of the selections given in the second 

 number of the Farmers' Register,) and it is so 

 important a means of improvement, in that admira- 

 bly cultivated country, that every one who wishes 

 to know the features of Flemish husbandry, ought 

 to be more particularly informed of tlie nature and 

 composition of Dutch ashes. Our latest informa- 

 tion with regard to the agriculture of Belgium, 

 shows that an artificial compound manure has been 

 invented by M. Hollert, formed of certain propor- 

 tions of lime, clay, pit coal, salt, &c. which after 

 being burnt, is considered similar in chemical com- 

 position, and equal in value, to the Dutch ashes. 

 The sulphate and carbonate of lime, (gypsum and 

 calcareous earth,) which are ingredients of the 

 Dutch ashes, must constitute their principal value 

 as manure. M. HoUert's scheme of a substitute, 

 may be visionary : but nevertheless, it may be 

 true, that cheap materials may be presented by 

 nature, in this country as well as in Belgium, 

 which may be so mixed, as to yield the same chemi- 

 cal results and proportions, and produce the like 

 effects, as this valuable manure.] 



" For a number of years past, the crops of clover 

 in England have gradually become more and more 



deficient, and the crops of wheat sown after the 

 clover, have frequently failed. It was supposed, 

 that i'rom two frequent repetition, the ground had 

 become tired of clover, and that the same success 

 in cultivating it could not be expected. The fail- 

 ure of the crop of wheat afterwards was peculiarly 

 unfortunate, and certainly greatly contributed to 

 the scarcities which have of late prevailed in tliis 

 country. I was much gratified therefore to find, that 

 in Flanders there were no complaints of the fail- 

 ure of the crop of clover, (except in one district, 

 where a plant, called the orobanche, infested the 

 ground,) and that the crop of wheat, after clover, 

 Vv'as reckoned among the surest of any. It was 

 still more satisfactory to ascertain, that the means 

 of obtaining similar results, were distinctly known, 

 v/ere not expensive, and could easily be procured 

 in England, being nothing but the application of 

 Dutch ashes. 



" According to the best information I have hith- 

 erto been able to obtain, there are too sorts of turf 

 or peat in Holland. The first is found on rising 

 grounds, and in a sandy soil, at from three to twelve 

 feet from the surface, the strata varying from eigh- 

 teen inches to three or four feet in depth. This 

 sort is principally found in Friesland. It is cut 

 and prepared in the same manner as the peat of 

 Scotland and Ireland, burns quickly and cheerfully, 

 gives a good heat, but leaves only a very light ash, 

 of little value. The other sort of peat, which is 

 more generally used in Holland, is extracted from 

 the marshes, which are constantly covered, during 

 the winter season, with water of a brackish nature; 

 after this peat is reduced to a pulp, it is spread 

 upon the ground, and when it has acquired a cer- 

 tain consistency, it is cut and dried in the same 

 manner as the former. It burns less clear, and 

 gives less heat than the other peat, but it lasts 

 longer, and leaves a much heavier ash, full of 

 saline matter, insomuch that it is sometimes used 

 as a substitute for soda, in the manufacture of green 

 glass. This can only be accounted for by the 

 effects of the water by which it is covered, which 

 not only deposits a muddy substance, whence the 

 richer part of the ashes is derived, but the water 

 being of a brackish quality, it impregnates the 

 peat with salts. 



" These ashes were analysed about fifty years 

 ago, when it appeared tiiat from one-nintli to one- 

 twelflli part consisted of glauber and marine salts.* 

 In a recent analysis by Professor Brande, of the 

 Royal Institution, the contents of the specimen 

 given him were as follow : — 



" Silicious earth - - - 32 



Sulphate of lime, - - - 12 

 Sulphate and muriate of soda - 6 



Carbonate of lime - - - 40 

 Oxide of iron _ _ _ 3 



Impurities and loss 



93 



7 



100 



" In such an article, however, the variety of sub- 



* Sec Memoires de rAcadcniie de Bruxelles, Tome 

 III. p. 47, where there is a paper written by the Abb6 

 Marci, read on the 13th December, 1775, on the subject 

 of artificial manures, and stating the advantage of using 

 these Dutch ashes, as being then well known. 



