906 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



MANURE — ASHES. 



Ashes, leached or unleached, are a most valuable 

 maimre. While one writer says they are "best for 

 low, mossy lauds," and another, " that ashes are found 

 to succeed best on dry, loamy laud," all agree that 

 they are a valuable manure. At the present time, 

 the opinion generally prevails that aslies have the 

 most oeueficial effect upon sandy and dry loamy soils. 

 This may be true to a certain extent ; but we know- 

 that ashes are an excellent manure on moist, swampy 

 land — as we have in mind now two fields, on a light, 

 cold, muddy soil, upon a sub-stratum of sand, and 

 the other a peat bog, that have been reclaimed by 

 the use of ashes. In fact, reason shows that any 

 moist land coutaiuing acids, and hence "cold and 

 sour," would be greatly benefitted by the use of ashes, 

 as they would neutralize the acids and furnish earthy 

 and saline matter to the soil. Thus in certain peat 

 bogs there are often acids, sulphates of iron and 

 alumina, or copperas and lime. Now, a supply of 

 ashes to such bogs will make them productive, the 

 ashes neutralizing the acids. In this manner swamps 

 and low meadows are often reclaimed in the neigh- 

 borhood of old potash works ; the reclaiming being 

 the result of accident at first, the ashes having been 

 thrown as worthless into the most worthless spots ; 

 but afterwards the result of experience, as it was dis- 

 covered that those worthless spots soon became pro- 

 ductice from the application of " spent ashes." 



But the real value of ashes depends upon their 

 being a combination of salts derived from plants, all 

 of which have a most decided beneficial effect on the 

 re-production of plants. 



By leaching, ashes are divided into two parts, solu- 

 ble and insoluble. 



Hard wood ashes, in every one hundred parts, by 

 leaching, give 13.57 of soluble parts and 86.43 of in- 

 seluble parts. According to Prof D.vna 



100 parts of the soluble contain 



Carbonic acic, --- 22. 70 



Sulphui-ic acid, 6.43 



Muriatic acid, 1.82 



Silex, - 0.95 



Potash and soda, 67.99 



99.86 

 100 parts of insoluble contain 



Carbonic acid, 35.80 



Phosphoric acid, _ 3.40 



Silex, 4.25 



Oxide of iron, 0.52 



Oxide of manganese, 2.16 



Mag;nesia, 3.55 



Lime, 35.80 



85.47 ■ 



Prof. 'Dana, says : " A bushel of good ashes con- 

 tains 5 1 fcs. of real potash. In leaching ashes, 

 generally about one peck of lime is added to each 

 bushel of ashes ; and as it loses no bulk during the 

 operation, a cord of leached' ashes contains about 

 the following proportions, allowing the usual pro- 

 portion to be leached out, or 4| fcs. per bushel: 



Phosphoric acid, 117 fts. 



Silex,..- 146 " 



Oxide of iron, 17 " 



Oxide of manganese, 16 " 



Magnesia, 119 " 



Carbonate of lime, w-vth that added in leaching,. 3972 " 



Potash combined with silica, 60 " 



Bebxhieb gives the constituents of the ash of va- 



rious kinds of wood. According to his tables, the 

 constituents of Oak, Birch, Beech and Pine are as 

 follows in every 100 parts of each: 



Oalc. Birch. Pitch Pine. Beech. 



Silica, 3.8 5.5 13.0 5.8 



Lime, 54.8 52.2 27.2 42.6 



Magnesia, 0.6 3.0 8.7 7.0 



Oxide of iron, — 9.5 22.3 1.5 



Oxide of mang.^nese,.. — 3.5 5.5 4.5 



Plinsphoric acid, 0.8 4.3 1.8 5.7 



Carbonic acid, 39.9 31.0 21.5 32.0 



99.6 100. 100. 100. 



Sprengel gives the following table as the result of 

 the analysis of the Red Beech, Oak and Scotch Fir : 



Red Beech. Oalc. Scotch Fir. 



Silica, 5.52 29.95 6.59 



Alumina, f 



Oxide of iron, V 2.33 8.14 17.03 



Oxide of manganese, ) 



Lime, 25.00 17.38 23.18 



Magnesia, 5.00 1.44 5.02 ' 



Potiish, 22.11 16.20 2.20 



Soda, 3.32 6.73 2.22 



Sulphuric acid, 7.64 3.36 2.23 



Phosphoric acid, 5.62 1.92 2.75 



Chlorine, 1.84 2.41 2.30 



Carbonic acid, 14.00 12.37 36.48 



100. 100. 100. 



The same author gives the analysis of the ash of 

 the various grains thus : 



Oats. Bariey. "Wheat. Rye. 



Potash, 15.2 3.4 0.6 1.2 



Soda, trace 0-9 0.8 0.4 



Lime, 2.6 10.5 6.8 6.4 



Magnesia, 0.4 1-4 0.9 9.4 



SiUca, 80.0 73.5 81.6 82.2 



Alumin.a, 0.1 2.8) 



Oxide of iron, trace 0.1^ 2.6 0.9 



Oxide of manganese,. .trace 0.3) 



Phosphoric acid, 0.2 • 3.5 4.8 1.8 



Sulphuric acid, 1.4 2.2 1.0 6.1 



Chlorine, 0.1 1.2 0.9 0.6 



Carbonic acid, — — — — 



100. 100. 100. 100. 



Letellier gives the analysis of the ash of Indian 

 corn thus: 



Potash, 20.8 



Lime and m.ignesia, 18.3 » 



Phosphoric acid, 50.1 



Silica, &c., 0.8 



Now, upon examining the constituents of the ash 

 of the various kinds of wood as given in the above 

 tables, and comparing them with the ash of various 

 kinds of grains, it is easy to perceive why wood ashes 

 are a most excellent manure for raising the grains 

 and other vegetables. Ashes furnish to the soil the 

 appropriate food of those plants. Ashes contain all 

 the inorganic constituents which form the inorganic 

 parts of plants; hence their great value as fertilizei-s, 

 not only upon " dry loamy soils," but upon all soils 

 exhausted of those inorganic substances by cultiva- 

 tion, or deprived of them by nature. 



But ashes are valuable as an exterminator. A gill 

 cup of unleached ashes put into a hill of corn, is sure 

 to exterminate worms and bugs ; and are equally 

 valuable upon otuer vegetables troubled with such 

 vermin. They not only exterminate them upon the 

 surface of the ground, but about the roots of the 

 vegetables, and are sure to prevent the visits of these 

 troublesome animals. 



Sown broadcast upon the land and plowed in, 

 leached or unleached ashes will exterminate sorrel, 

 as they destroy the food of this noxious vegetable 

 when they neutraUsse the acids of the soils. 



