FERTILIZERS. 25 



Oak. Hickory. 



Potash .2.3 Ibs. 4.3 Ibs. 



Phosphoric Acid 5 Ib. 1.3 " 



The ashes made from burning the wood of deciduous or 

 hard-wood trees (those which shed their leaves in the fall) 

 are nearly as strong again in potash as those made from 

 trees of the evergreen class. Peat ashes are about one- 

 sixth as strong as the ashes of hard-wood trees ; those from 

 the burning of bituminous coal, one-twentieth as strong ; 

 while those from anthracite are but one-sixtieth as rich. 

 The deciduous trees differ considerably among themselves 

 in the per cent of potash found in their ashes ; the poplar, 

 apple, elm, oak, and birch taking a high rank. Though the 

 phosphoric acid in ashes is in an insoluble condition, yet 

 it is so finely subdivided that it readily becomes soluble 

 through the action of the carbonic acid present in the soil. 



Ashes are sold, delivered at any railroad station, at 

 prices varying with the distance and the dealer. The 

 price per bushel, by the car-load of about six hundred 

 bushels, delivered in Eastern Massachusetts, is from 26 

 to 34 cents for unleached, and about 16 cents for leached. 

 Several parties supply the market, each of whom has a 

 word of criticism for his fellow-dealers : " He has coal 

 ashes, more or less, in what he sells." " He picks his up 

 through agents, and knows not what he gets." " He sells 

 more or less leached ashes for unleached." I have bought 

 several car-loads of Messrs. Munroe & Stroup of Oswego, 

 N.Y., and believe that they have generally been of good 

 quality. More or less of them are of a suspiciously light 

 color : but I am informed that is the natural color of the 

 ashes from elm-trees, which abound in lime ; and, as the 

 ashes taste very strong of potash, I am inclined to be- 

 lieve it. The Canadians hold, that, for upland soils, the 

 ashes made from the " black " oak are nearly worthless. 



