1870. 



XEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



211 



COAL ASHES. 



Coal-beds were once peat-beds — such at least 

 is the verdict of geological science. The ashes 

 of coal, like those of peat, consist chiefly of 

 the clay or soil which was mingled with thft 

 decaying mass of vegetation, rather than of 

 the ash ingredients of the plants themselves. 



Peat is so long soaked and leached with wa- 

 ter that it usually contains very little alkalies, 

 phosphates, or other matters that remain 

 when it is burned, which have fertilizing value. 

 The same is true of coal in a higher degree. 



The ashes of coal, in general, have the com- 

 position of ordinary (burned) soil. They 

 contain phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, lime, 

 magnesia, and potash, but commonly in small 

 or very small proportion. 



In the years 1849 and 1850, very complete 

 analyses of three kinds of coal ashes were 

 made in the Yale Analytical Laboratory, at 

 the instigation of Professor J. P. Norton. The 

 results are here given : — 



SOLUBILITV. 



Anthracite. 



, ^ , Bitii- 



Whi.,e ash, Ji'dash, minous. 



eolnble in -water 3 74 3.35 3 41 



" " hydrochiorioacH 7.58 11.00 8.53 



Insoluble in water a:.d aoid 88. b8 85 65 88 06 



88 06 

 1.06 

 1.96 

 159 

 4.46 



none. 

 0.76 • 



52 



1 10 

 29 



none, 



99 80 



100.00 100.00 



COMPOSITION. 



In?oluWe Bilicates .... 88 63 85 65 



Boluble Mlica 0.09 124 



AluMina 3.31 4.24 



Oxide of iron 4 03 5.83 



Lime 2 11 16 



Magne-ia 0.19 2.01 



Soda 022 0.16 



Potash 0.16 0.10 



Sulphuric acid 0.87 4? 



Chlorine 0.09 O.Ol 



PhoBphoric acid 0.20 0.27 



99.95 ICO 10 



Coal ashes are occasionally richer in one or 

 several valuable elements. Lime has been 

 found as high as 19 per cent. ; sulphuric acid, 

 10 ; chlorine, 9 ; magnesia, 5 ; potash, 2\ ; 

 phosphoric acid, 1\ per cent. 



We see, then, that the soils which are natu- 

 rally mixed with coal, and which remain, aftei 

 burning, as ashes, are as variable in composi 

 tion as the soils which are now in cultivation. 

 Hence, some coal ashes are nearly worthless, 

 while others are very good as a fertilizer. 

 There is no necessary connection between the 

 name of a coal or the locality where it is 

 mined, and the fertilizing value of its ashes, as 

 from two parts of the same lump of coal may 

 be obtained, in one case, a red ash, and in th« 

 other a white ash ; so one may give an ash 

 rich in sulphate of lime, while the other may 

 be destitute of that ingredient. 



There is a reason, often overlooked, which 

 may in part account for tho varying opinions 

 held by those who have used coal ashes. 



It often happens, in kitchen ranges, that so 

 much wood or charcoal is us'id for kindling 

 the fire mornings and for aiding it during the 

 day, that the ashes which collect contain 



enough alkali, etc., to act efficiently and strik- 

 ingly as a fertilizer. The reputation of coal 

 ashes cannot properly rest on the use of such 

 a mixture. 



On soils whose texture is too open, on light 

 sands which hold neither water nor manure, 

 the use of coal ashes is a great benefit, me- 

 chanically, by occupying the cavities or spa- 

 ces between the grains of sand with fine mat- 

 ter, and thus giving to the earth more reten- 

 tive -(luality. Had I a farm of such hungry 

 soil as the coarse sand of New Haven plain, I 

 i-hould be thankful to get it dressed two inches 

 deep with coal ashes, even of the poorest fer- 

 tilizing quality, in order, by ploughing them 

 in, to puddle a soil which drinks up the rains 

 in a trice, and, afcer a few hours of summer 

 sun, is dry enough, if not usually fine enough, 

 except where ground by travel, to rise in the 

 wind and become floating capital rather than 

 real estate. 



The good effect of coal ashes in thus better- 

 ing the texture of hungry soils may often be 

 greater than that of a tolerably good fertili- 

 zer. This is a fact of capital importance, 

 which, though demonstrated by plenty of 

 sound facts, is not sufliciently understood. 



By coal ashes I mean ashes, — not slate, 

 clinker, broken bottles, worn-out teapots, 

 blacking-boxes, old shoes, and small coal, but 

 the fine ashes, such as get in one's hair 

 when we shake out the grate in the morning, 

 or, at least, such as will pass a sieve of twenty 

 meshes to the square inch. 



When the farmer reports that coal ashes 

 are good or otherwise, he should mention 

 what kind of coal they are obtained from, and 

 state whether or not they are mixed with other 

 matters which have a fertilizing action. — Prof. 

 S. W. Johnson, in Hearth and Home. 



Healthy Chickens. — A correspondent of 

 the Rural New Yorker says : — The way I 

 heep my fowls in health, I clean out the house 

 once a week ; put wood ashes under the 

 roosts ; have iron basins for them to drink 

 from ; whitewash inside of hen-house with hot 

 lime ; put a little kerosene oil on the roosts 

 once a month. The main food is oats and 

 cake of scraps to pick on. I never feed but 

 once a day — at noon, or when I shut them up 

 at four or five in the afternoon. When they 

 run out then give them all they will eat. In 

 my experience there is no easier way to get 

 diseased fowls than to keep them stuifed ; it 

 makes them lazy, and they won't work as 

 much as they ought to to keep in a healthy 

 condition. I never had any gapes in chickens. 

 When fowl begin to droop I give three large 

 pills of common hard yellow soap; it is the 

 best thing to cleanse a fowl 1 know of. 1 fol- 

 low it for three days; give them nothing to 

 eat, and plenty of pure water to drink. In 

 desperate cases give a half teaspoonful of 

 tincture of lobelia. 



