ASHES. 



saline substances which are known 

 to act beneficially wlicn applied to 

 the land, but from the fact that they 

 have actually been obtained from 

 vegetable substances. If inorganic 

 matter be necessary to the growth 

 of wheat, then surely the mixture of 

 such matters contained in the ash of 

 wheat straw is more likely than any 

 other we can apply to promote the 

 growth of the young wheat plant. A 

 question might even be raised wheth- 

 er or not, in some soils rich in vege- 

 table matter, the ash alone would not 

 produce as visible an efTect upon the 

 coming crop as the direct application 

 of the straw, either in the dry state, 

 or in the form of rotted farmyard 

 nnnure ; and this question would 

 seem to be answered in the affirma- 

 tive by the result of many trials of 

 straw ashes which have been made 

 m England. In that country the ash 

 of five tons of straw has been found 

 superior in efficacy to ten tons of 

 farmyard manure. This is perfectly 

 consistent with theory; yet, as vege- 

 table matter appears really essential 

 to a fertile soil, and as the quantity 

 of this vegetable matter is lessened 

 in some degree by every corn crop 

 we raise, it cannot be good husband- 

 ry to manure for a succession of ro- 

 tations with saline substances only. 

 'I'he richest soil by this procedure 

 must ultimately i)e exhausted. On 

 the other hand, where much vegeta- 

 ble matter exists, and especially what 

 is usually called tnert vegetable mat- j 

 ter, it may be an evidence of great j 

 skill in the practical farmer to apply, 

 for a time, the ashes only of his straw, 

 or some other saline mixture to his 

 land. 



The practice of burning the stubble 

 on a winay day has been found in 

 Yorkshire to produce belter clover, 

 and to cause a larger return of wheat : 

 for this purpose, however, the stub- 

 ble must be left of considerable length. 

 In Gernuiuy, rape straw — which the 

 above tal)le shows to be so rich in 

 saline and earthy matter, and there- 

 fore exhausting to the land — is spread 

 over the held and burned in a similar 

 manner. The destruction of weeds 



and insects which attends this prac- 

 tice is mentioned as one ol its col- 

 lateral advantages. 



It is not advisable, as I have al- 

 ready said, wholly to substitute the 

 ash for the straw in ordinary soils, 

 or in any soils for a length of time ; 

 yet that it may be partially so sub- 

 stituted with good effect, or that 

 straw ashes will alone give a large 

 increase of the corn crop, and there- 

 fore should never be wasted, is shown 

 by the following comparative experi- 

 ments, conducted, as such experi- 

 ments should be, during an entire ro- 

 tation of four years. The quantity 

 of manure applied, and the produce 

 per imperial acre were as follows : 



The kind of soil on which this ex- 

 periment was made is not stated, but 

 it appears to show, as we should ex- 

 pect, that the effi^cts of straw ash 

 are particularly exerted in promoting 

 the growth of the corn plants and 

 grasses which contain much siliceous 

 matter in their stems ; in short, of 

 plants similar to those from which 

 the ash has been derived. 



Theory of the action of Siraiv Ash. — 

 That it should especially promote 

 the growth of such plants appears 

 most natural if we consider only the 

 source from which it has been ob- 

 tained, but it is fully explained by a 

 farther chemical examination of the 

 ash itself The soluble matter of 

 wood ash, in oenerul, contains but a 

 small quantity of silica, while that 

 part of the straw ash which is taken 

 up by water contains very muidi. 

 Thus a wheat ash, analyzed by Ber- 

 thier, contained of 



per cent. 



. . 19 



. . _81_ 



foo 



and that which was dissolved by wa- 

 ter consisted of 



Soluble salts 

 Insoluble matter 



