280 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



ASHES, LEACHED AND UJSTLEACHED. 



Inquiries are fre([ueiitly made, re<jar(ling 

 the comparative value of leached and unleached 

 ashes ; and in order to answer them, let us 

 consider the nature, or chemical constituents 

 of tile two heaps as we find them at the soap- 

 boiler's. In one bin are the dry, fresh wood 

 ashes ; in another, the wet, lixiviated mass, as 

 thrown from the leach tubs. If the former 

 are like the ashes produced in our own dwell- 

 ing, by burning in the open fire-place, oak, 

 j)ine, hickory, birch and maple woods, a bushel 

 will weigh about fifty pounds, six and three- 

 fourth pounds of which are soluble in warm 

 water. Of the soluble constituents, there are 

 a little more than four and one-half pounds of 

 j)otash and soda, the remainder beinof the sul- 

 phuric, muriatic and carbonic acids with which 

 the alkalies are combined. Forty- three pounds 

 are insoluble in water, and consist of 



Carbonate of lime 32 pounds 



Phosphate " 3 " 



Carbonate of magnesia 4 " 



Silifate of lime 3 " 



Oxides of iron and manganese • 1 " 



It is the work of the soap-boiler to remove 

 from ashes what is soluble in water, which is 

 accomplished in the leach tub ; and this is all 

 the change they undergo in this establishment. 

 The ashes go in dry, holding the soluble and 

 insoluble substances ; they come out wet, de- 

 prived of six and three-fourths pounds of pot- 

 ash and soda. It should be stated, however, 

 that about one pound of quick lime is added 

 to each bushel of ashes in the leach, to render 

 the lye caustic. This adds one pound more of 

 lime to the insoluble residuum, or the leached 

 ashes, making it weigh, if it was free from 

 water, forty -four pounds. In leaching, the 

 ashes do not change much in bulk, but they 

 are largely increased in weight from the con- 

 tained water. 



Now, what is the commercial value of the 

 ashes before and after they pass through the 

 soap maker's hands ? In the dry state the 



Four and one-half pounds of potash and soda 



are worth six cc'uts a pound 27 



Other soluble constituents 3 



Thirty-two pounds carbonate of lime 3 



Three pouuds phosphate of lime 6 



Three pounds silicate 



Iron and maganese 



39 

 This estimate which is a fair one, gives a 

 value ])cr bushel of thirty-nine cents ; that is, 

 the substances found in a bushel of good 

 sound wood ashes are worth in the market that 

 sum at the present time. By leaching the 

 ashes, thirty cents of the commercial value is 

 removed and converted into soap ; this leaves 

 nine cents as the value of the constituents of 

 a, bushel of leached ashes. The silicate of 

 lime, and the metals, practically have no mar- 

 ket value, and are not considered. 



What is the agricultural value of the two 

 forms of fertilizers ? The ashes holding all 



their normal constituents are worth more ap- 

 ])lied to soils than for other uses when sepa- 

 rated, dollars and cents being considered. A 

 bushel judiciously employed, will return in 

 most seasons sixty or seventy cents' Avorth of 

 products the first year. The potash and soda 

 combined as they are in ashes, in the form of 

 carbonates, sulphates and silicates, are in pre- 

 cisely the right condition to be readily assim- 

 ilated, and also to aid in rendering assimilable, 

 many important constituents of the soil. 



The leached ashes also are worth more to 

 the farmer than nine cents a bushel. Rela- 

 tively they are worth more for soil employ- 

 ment than the unleached, regard being had to 

 the commercial value of the substance when 

 separated. A good honest bushel of moist, 

 leached ashes, will give returns the first year 

 of the value of fifteen or twenty cents ; and 

 owing to the peculiar decomposing influence 

 upon the insoluble constituents of the soil, of 

 the silicates, &c., remaining in the mass, their 

 influence extends outside of themselves and 

 continues for a long time. A pound of phos- 

 phate of lime found in ashes is worth more 

 than a pound of bone dust, as it is in a condi- 

 tion to be readily taken up by plants. The 

 carbonate of lime is worth more than chalk of 

 the same agent in other forms, inasmuch as it 

 has once passed through plant structures. 



The estimates here presented are only rough 

 ones, but they are sutHciently exact to serve 

 as a guide in learning the value of leached and 

 unleached wood ashes. We have experi- 

 mented considerably Avith ashes in both forms, 

 upon soils of various kinds, and what we have 

 here stated is the result of our OAvn practical 

 experience. — Boston Journal of Chemistry. 



SPBING CAKE OF COWS. 



Dairymen during the past few years have 

 very generally adopted the plan of having 

 cows come in early in the spring, and there 

 is wisdom in so doing, for a greater product 

 of milk is obtained and the health of the cow 

 better preserved. Farmers have learned that 

 by this means, milk fever may be avoided, and 

 that garget, caked udder, &c., which very ma- 

 terially detract from the prospective profits on 

 the dairy, may more generally be averted. 

 They understand that when a cow comes in 

 during the cool weather of sjn-ing, while kept 

 upon dry feed, there is but little danger from 

 diseases, and that when this event takes place 

 after the animal has been turned to grass, and 

 the weather has become hot, the case becomes 

 hazardous. 



Cows that come in at this season of the 

 year, need special care, however, or they will 

 not yield through the season the expected 

 profit. Food amounting in nutritive qualities 

 to an equivalent of the milk secreted, must be 

 given, or there wil^be a draft upon the sys- 

 tem, reducing flesh and strength, and so check- 

 ing the general vigor and animation of the 



