770 Annual Report fur 1894 of the Consulting Chemist. 
Dissolved Bones. 
Moisture 
. 11-68 
1 Organic matter and water of combination 
. 30-57 
Monobasic phosphate of lime . 
. 15-89 
equal to tribasic phosphate of lime 
rendered 
soluble by acid .... 
. (24-89) 
Insoluble phosphates .... 
. 11-04 
Sulphate of lime, &c 
. 30-31 
Insoluble siliceous matter 
•51 
1 containing nitrogen 
100-00 
309 
equal to ammonia 
3 75 
This manure (a perfectly genuine one) cost only 51. per ton, and 
was sold in the neighbourhood of Lincoln. 
Basic Slag. 
Though, as has been remarked, basic slag has generally been of 
good quality, it is still necessary to warn farmers against purchasing 
what is merely known as “ slag,” under the impression that they 
are buying “ basic slag.” Such a material is the following, which 
a member of the Society told me he was sending as a sample of 
“ basic slag ” : — 
Lime. 19-71 
Insoluble siliceous matter 56-05 
Oxide of iron, alkalies, &c 24'24 
100-00 
This sample contained no phosphoric acid whatever, and was not 
basic slag at all. In reply to inquiries I heard that it was offered 
in the neighbourhood of Worcester as a new manufacture. 
Shoddy. 
In several samples of shoddy and wool waste which I have 
examined I have found a quantity of weed-seeds, still of full 
germinating power. The presence of these seeds in such a manure 
must be a decided objection, on account of their liability to foul the 
land to which the manure is applied. The vitality of all such seeds 
should be destroyed before the material is dug in the ground. 
Damaged Nitrate of Soda. 
Warnings have been given this year in the Quarterly Reports 
against the sale, under the name of “damaged” or “roasted” 
nitrate of soda, of a material which is nothing more than the 
residue left in the nitre pots after the manufacture of oil of vitriol. 
Not only is there hardly any nitrate of soda left in the material, 
but a large proportion of the latter consists of the acid sulphate of 
soda, a substance which can have no beneficial action on vegetation, 
