A S II 



is fiiperior, for tlic union of pot-a(h with all the different 

 acids forms a iifiUr.J lak winch is in lome dcsjrcc ufefiil in 

 vegetation ; whereas when hme meets with vitriohc acid, it 

 is ahnofl. entirely loll to the purpofes of agricukurc. A con- 

 fiderable pait of what is ufcd in maniilaftiires (^lafs ex- 

 cepted) may be ufcful as a manure, after the purpofis of 

 the different manufartures have been ferved ; particularly 

 in bleaching, the alkali of which will be found improved in 

 coiilequeiice of the mucilage or oil which it has imbibed 

 from the cloth or other matters. 



The foapcrs' afhes are a compofition of wood aHies and 

 lime, remaining after the foap-makcrs have drawn off their 

 lye. Thefe are in general a verj' valuable manure ; but 

 "there is great difference in the quality and effeds of them. 

 Thofe from wood afhes are the vveakeft fort, as, wood afties 

 being very light and fpongy, their falts are foon diffolved 

 and extracted by the lye ; fo that there remains but a very 

 flight portion of fait in the alhes. But when the foap-boilers 

 make ufe of kelp inftead of wood afhes, the kelp, from 

 its being of a harder nature than wood-aflies, is not fo 

 eafily feparated and diffolved by the lye ; confequcntly, 

 much more of the faline matter remains in the aflics. The 

 ffoap-boilers alfo make ufe of another kind of potalh called 

 barilla, which is imported from Spain and other places in 

 large lump^, and which is much liarder than common pot- 

 afli, and though they break this fort very fmal!, and fome- 

 "times fcreen or iift it, much more fait remains than when 

 ,pot-afh is employed ; fo that the aflies from barilla are for 

 the moft part llronger than any other; and if the fame 

 tjuantity of them were laid upon land as is commonly the 

 Xafe with wood aflics, they would burn and dellroy the 

 crop. Farmers Should therefore ufe foap-boilers' alhes with 

 caution, till they know their qualities and ftrength. Wood 

 alhes and pot afhes are uled in various places for making 

 foap ; but in and near London, very little of any thing but 

 barilla is employed. The aflies from the barilla are a flrong 

 rich manure, and fold at five (hillings per cart-load. They 

 are not now however fo good as they were formerly, the 

 foap-makers having found means to extraft more of their 

 fait from them ; as they alio take the fait from the lye 

 vrhich was formerly rather fuperior to the afhes as a manure, 

 and to be had for nothing, being all thrown away as ufelefs. 

 This excellent manure was firft ufcd bv the Flemings with 

 great fuccefs. Two loads of thefe afhes are fufficicnt for 

 an acre of arable land. They fliould be laid on the ground 

 when the weather is inclined to be moi;1, in order that the 

 rain may more eafily diffolve and wafh them hi. As foapers' 

 afhesprincipally confillof lime, which is uftd by foap-makers 

 to deprive the alkaline falts of their fixed air, the addition 

 of lime to the afhes is unneccffary. They are ufcd to moll 

 advantage when made into compofls with earth and well- 

 fermented dung in the proportion of two loads of dung to 

 one of earth ; the afhes being then added in the quantity of 

 one load to ten of this mixture, turning and incorporating 

 the whole completely. The quantity ncceffary for ftrong 

 clays or deep loams is ten cart loads to an acre. If the 

 dung has been well fermented, perhaps the mofl profitable 

 way of ufing this comport may be as a top-dreffing harrowed 

 in with the grain, taking care, however, that the cauftic 

 quality of the alhes be properly bluntedby afufficient mixture 

 of dung and earth, or rich earth only. Thefe afhes, when 

 beat fmall, may be made into a rich comport with refufe 

 oil and earth, and ufed as a top-dreffmg for young crops. 

 Th«y will deftroy flugs and vermin of every defcription, 

 and arc therefore highly valuable on lands where the early 

 wheat is imurtd by the worm. Laid upon grafs lands in 

 the end of autumn, this manure, it ie faid, produces a deep 



ASH 



verdure during the winter, and an early vigorous Tegctation 

 in the fpiing ; it is therefore particularly calculated for cold 

 wet paiiure lands. 



In rcfpecl to turf afhes, produced by burning turf or the 

 paring of the furface of heathy, moorilh, and other lands, 

 their utility as a manure, perhaps, chiefly depends upon the 

 proportion of alkaline faline matter which they contain, and 

 which is produced by the burning ot the frefii vegetable 

 fubftanccs of turf, and the combination of vital air or oxy- 

 gen, with the clayey part of the foil during the procefs of 

 comburtioi), as well as by the mechanical aftion of fuch fub- 

 ftanccs on the tenacious earthy matters of the foils. Accord- 

 ing to the Rev. Mr. Comber, the afiies in the moors of 

 Yorkfhire, are carried out daily, or once in two or three days 

 to the dunghill ; and the farmer takes the opportunity of 

 his firft leilure towards the end of the year, to carry them 

 out to his meadow lands on which he lays them thicker or 

 thinner as he has more or lefs land which he appvehends to 

 want them, and more or lefs of them. The firll rains wafh 

 them in, and the next fumnier never fails to fhew their good 

 cficc^s. It would however be probably a much better practice 

 to apply them to the land in the early fpring when the wea- 

 ther is rather wet, and not to leave them to be wafhcd away 

 by the heavv rains and land-floods during the winter month;. 

 They would alfo be much more efficacious if kept in fheds, 

 or other fuitable places, inttcad of being carried out to the 

 dung-rtead ; where the rains murt dirtolve and cari-y away 

 their moll nutrient properties ; as thefe afhes are much finer 

 or more pulverized than thofe of coal, they may infinuatc 

 themfelves more into the foil, but they are probably not fo 

 larting in their effeits. Of the truth of this a remarkable 

 inrtance is mentioned. — A field, whereof the foil was a poor 

 gravel, that had a crop of the broad or red clover growing 

 upon it, was dreffed, one fide of it with peat afhes, and the 

 other fide with turf afhes. The farmer laid upon this field 

 all the alhes he had of thefe two forts, and the middle of 

 the field had no drefling. The clover in the middle part 

 not dreffed was a very poor crop, the plants being fhort, 

 yellow, and rtunted ; the fide dreffed with turf allies wa» 

 much better than the middle ; the plants being taller, of a 

 better colour, and promifcd to be double the crop of the 

 undreffed part ; but that fide dreffed with peat afhes pro- 

 duced a crop that appeared to be as much fuperior to the 

 part dreffed with the turf afhes, as this laft was fuperior to 

 the middle that had no di effing at all. 'l"he afhes were fowii 

 upon the clover by hand, and the improvement made upon 

 the clover was fo great, that the call of the fower's hand 

 was extremely plain next to the middle, and appeared like 

 an indenture ; and the vigour of the plants there was fo 

 much greater than the undreffed plants, that the extent of 

 the peat arties might be plainly dillinguifiied almoft to an 

 inch. Tills obfervation was however m;.de in the beginning 

 of fummer, before the clover had arrived to its full growth. 

 See P.4RINO, and Burning. 



Afhes produced from wood and moft green vegetable 

 produfts contain aconfidcrable quantity of fixed alkaline fait 

 blended with the earthy particles ; but none or very little 

 can be produced by the combuftion of dead or decayed ve- 

 getable matters. It is from the aflies of the former kind* 

 of vegetable matter that the alkaline falts called potafh 

 and pearl-afhes are corrmonly extrafted. It feems alfo pro- 

 bable, from the obfervutions of the earl of Dundonald, that 

 the effects produced upon land by the application of the 

 afhes cf frefh vegetable produ£ts, arife from the vegetable al- 

 kaline fait which they contain, which, by its adlion on what 

 he terms the oxygenated or inert mould or earth of the foil, 

 renders it foluble, and more fuitable for the nutrition of 



plaatSa 



