26 FERTILIZERS. 



Trees vary greatly in the richness of their ashes in potash, 

 some being over twice as rich as others. For this reason, 

 and the additional variation possible through fraud, all 

 ashes ought to be bought and sold on analysis. It is true, 

 a man may make a pretty near guess by tasting or by 

 leaching a sample ; but the test of a chemist, though a 

 fool, can far surpass the best guess of the most experi- 

 enced man. The result in the one case is a certainty ; in 

 the other, at the best but an uncertainty. In dealing with 

 some of the smooth-tongued fellows who have all the way 

 to Canada between you and their facts, it is much easier to 

 analyze the ashes than the man. Ashes have been sold as 

 Canada unleached that proved, on analysis, to be nothing 

 more than oyster-shell lime having a slight admixture of 

 wood ashes. Leached ashes contain, on an average, about 

 1.40 per cent of potash, and 1.24 of phosphoric acid. 



Let us not forget, what has been already stated, that 

 the potash in .ashes is not pure. It is a carbonate, being 

 about three-fifths pure potash ; that is, five pounds of car- 

 bonate of potash are equal to three pounds of pure potash. 

 As to the value of ashes per bushel, if we allow 8 cents 

 per pound value for the potash, and 10 cents for the phos- 

 phoric acid, then we have, for Canada ashes, 5.77 X 8 = 

 46.16 + 1.17 X 10 = 11.70, equals 57.86 cents for the pot- 

 ash and phosphoric acid present in 100 pounds : we have 

 about 58 cents in value. If to this we add, for the lime, 

 soda, and magnesia, 8 cents, we have 66 cents as the com- 

 mercial value of 100 pounds of unleached Canada ashes ; 

 and, as a bushel weighs about 45 pounds, its value would 

 be nearly 30 cents. 



The peculiar proportion and fine condition in which the 

 several ingredients enter into ashes, make the agricultural 

 value considerably higher than this. The value of leached 

 ashes may be figured on the same basis ; all the ingredients 



