4S8 
AMi::RICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[DECEUfiElt, 
to do with horse-shoeing, knows how much depends 
upon the point ol the nails, and that if carelessly 
pointed by hand, the most skillful shoer cannot 
drive them properly. Being pointed by machinery, 
they are all alike, and their excellence not only as 
to point, but general finish, is attested by numer- 
ous skilled farriers ; and they receive the most em- 
phatic commendation from the Quartermaster's 
Department and the Veterinary Surgeons attached 
to the army. Probably the severest possible test 
to which these nails could be subjected, is on the 
feet of the horses and mules employed in the fron- 
tier service, and the testimony here is of much 
greater value than that expressed in the awards at 
the various fairs, including the Centennial, where 
they have been exhibited. Few who have not 
made, or watched the making of, a horseshoe nail 
by hand, or at least had to point the nails for use 
after they ■wereJinUhed, can appreciate what a great 
mechanical triumph it is, to turn out a nail all ready 
for use, by simply feeding the plate to a machine, 
which punches out the blanks, and then pass the 
rough nails to a hopper, whence they drop into a 
machine which finishes them. This great step is 
strikingly shown in the engravings figs. 2 and 3. 
In one is shown the slow hand process, where G 
lbs. of finished nails was a good day's work ; in 
contrast with this is seen the machine which turns 
out 600 lbs. of finished nails daily. But some one 
may say " you exalt the machine above the man " ; 
not at all. This very man will stop making nails, 
it is true, but he will either be promoted to making 
machines, or to running several of them to supply 
the large demand for these nails in other countries. 
Science Applied to Farming.— XXXVI. 
J*Ioi"c Al»out German PotasH Salts — Licopolds- 
liall ICainit — AsUcs and PotasU Salts — Prac- 
tical Citncliisioms. 
One class of the numerous questions I receive 
about potash salts can be be best answered by giv- 
ing the composition and cost of a number which 
have been used in this region, analyzed at our 
laboratory and are fair representatives of some of 
the more important grades in our markets.* 
IUGKEDIENTS IH 100 LBS. 
,j 
.^ 
e 
A? 
■^^ 
•e 
s?; 
■s.» 
o 
^^s 
o? 
a. 
POTASH SALTS. 
^ 
sK, 
«i 
S 
. 
i: 
2J 
I's- -"^ 
i; 
H a, 
Co 
*i 
I- 
1. '.g^ 
o.<s 
y 
^ 
6 
r 
HIGH GHADE SALTS. 
lbs. 
Ifts. 
im. 
Ibg. fts. IS c.'cts. 
I— Sulphate, i80 per ct.) 
43.97,44.45 
81.31 — 65.001 7.4 
II— Sqli)hate,(75 per ct. i 
III— Sulphate. 60 per ct.) 
40.66 45.35 
75.19 — 'CS.OO' 8.0 
81.97 47.82 
0.9U 
59.12 
— 60.00 
9.4 
rv— Chloride, (Muriate, 
87 percent' 
54.89 



86.90 50.00 
4 6 
V— Chloride, (Muriate, 
1 
80 percenti 
50.64 
— 
— 
— 
80.08 50.00 
5 
row GRADE SALTS. 
1 
VI— Prepared Ealult 
16.29 
16.04 
— 
30,12 
'son 
7 6 
VII— Prepared Kaliilt. . . . 
14.41 
17.59 31.09 
26.65 

25.00 
a 6 
VIII-Leopold3h:ill Kalnit 
\H.VI 
19.39! — 
25 Rf 

30.00 10.7 
IX— Leopoldshall Kalnit 
12.18 
'(5 .56 

SO.OO 12.3 
X— Leopoldshall Kalnit 
12.80 
20.071 — 
■« 7-1 

18.001 ^.3 
XI-Leopold3hall Kalnit 
11.4719.38 29.55'21.23 
— 
The high-grade articles were from H. J. Baker & Bro. nnd 
The Mapea Formula and Peruvian Guano Co., both of New 
York City, and from W. H. Bowker & Co., of Boston. 
A few words of esplan.ation will help to a better 
understanding of the table : It is customary to 
reckon the potassium of these salts as potash or " ac- 
tual potash. " In the sulphates this term expresses 
the amount of potassium oxide, potassa or potash 
present. In the muriates it represents the amount 
of potash which the potassium would make if com- 
bined with oxygen instead of chlorine— 100 lbs. of 
pure sulphate of potash contains about 54 lbs. of 
"actual potash." 100 lbs. of sulphate of potash 
are therefore said to be equivalent to 54 lbs. of ac- 
tual potash, and vice versa, 54 lbs. of potash in the 
sulphates are reckoned as equivalent to 100 lbs. of 
sulphate of potash. In the " muriates," 100 lbs. of 
chloride of potassium are reckoned equivalent to 
* See, for fuller accourtB of potash salts, a lecture on 
" Potaah in Agriculture," and, for analyses, the "Report 
of Conn. Agr. Exp't. Station " for 1876, printed in Re- 
port of Conn. Board of Agriculture for same year. 
about 63 lbs. of potash, and vice versa. Accord- 
ingly, a sulphate with 80 per cent snlphate of 
potash contains (80x54) 43.3 per cent of actual 
potash. No. I in table, with 44 per cent actual 
potash, contains about 81 per cent of sulphate of 
potash. The 80 per cent of chloride of potassium 
in No. V corresponds to 50 per cent actual potash, 
and BO on. It is customary to reckon the cost of 
the actual potash in these articles by dividing 
the cost per ton by the number of pounds 
of potash in a ton. Thus, No. V, with 50 per cent, 
or .50 lbs. in 100 lbs., furnishes 1,000 lbs. in a ton. 
The 1,000 lbs. then cost S50, and 1 lb. costs 5 
cents. So far as my observation of the 
Qualify and Cost of tlic Potasli S.ilts in Our 
Marlccts 
goes, the high grade muriates are uniformly reli- 
able, and are the cheapest sort of potash for ferti- 
lizers. That with 50 per cent actual potash is 
quoted in the " Price List of Fertilizers " in late 
numbers of the American Agriculturist at 850 
per ton, and has brought that price quite generally. 
I have known it to be sold much lower, however. 
Farmers' clubs and individual farmers in Connecti- 
cut have been buying it at $40 per ton cash, free 
on board, in New Torlc. This would bring actual 
potash at 4 ets. per lb. There is, by the way, a 
new brand of chloride, " Douglashall, No. H Fer- 
tilizer," imported by H. Seligman & Co., of New 
Xork, which, besides 80 to 83 per cent chloride of 
potassium, contains also 10 to 13 per cent of sul- 
phate of magnesia, and is on that account some- 
what preferable to the ordinary muriates. The 
sulphates are manufactured from the muriates by 
adding sulphuric acid and heating. The difBculty 
and expense of this process accounts for their 
higher cost, and the fact that they are sometimes 
hardly as good as claimed. 
licopoldsliall !K:ainit. 
The need of information about fertilizers, and tlic 
fact that farmers will be cheated until they have 
learned, are strikingly illastratea in the sale of 
the low grade potash salts, and particularly the 
Kainit. Tens of thousands of tons of this material 
are annually imported and sold to farmers all the 
way from Maine to Louisiana, under the name of 
"Genuine Unmanufactured Leopoldshall Kainit." 
The average composition of the kainit as sold 
from the Leopoldshall mines is stated on Ger- 
man authority at 35 per cent sulphate of potash 
(corresponding to 13.5 per cent actual potash), 14 
per cent sulphate of magnesia, 14 per cent chloride 
magnesium, 33 per cent chloride of sodium (com- 
mon salt), and 13 per cent water.— The samples of 
Leopoldshall kainit that have come under my ob- 
servation have averaged about 12i per cent of pot- 
ash, corresponding to 23 per cent of sulphate of 
potash. The 13i per cent of actual potash will 
make 250 lbs. in a ton of 3,000 lbs. Potash can be 
had in chloride of potassium, as we have seen, at 
from 4 to 5 cents a pound. It is certainly worth 
no more than 5 cents per lb. in the kainit. At that 
rate the 250 lbs. of potash in the ton will come to 
S13.50. Whatever the kainit costs above this must be 
reckoned as either increasing the price of the pot- 
ash or applied to the other materials. Now a ma- 
nuring with the kainit is more a manuring with com- 
mon salt than with potash. The salt and other 
compolinds are useful in diffusing the potash 
through the soil, so that the roots of the plant may 
get at it, and in acting upon other plant-food in the 
soil so as to render it available. In some cases Ihcy 
might be worth more than they cost in the kainit ; 
in others they would be of little value, or positive- 
ly injurious. For meadow land, where the potash 
salts must be used as a top-dressing, their action is 
decidedly advantageous. For grain crops it might 
be quite benficial. For potatoes, sugar-beets, or 
tobacco, it would very likely be harmful. At 
$10.00 to $13.50 per ton, the kainit would be as 
cheap as the high grade chloride at $40.00 to $50.00, 
provided the sodium and magnesium compounds 
are worth enough to pay for the extra freight and 
handling. But as long as the chlorides can be 
had at these rates, I seriously doubt whether it 
would be generally advisable to pay more than 
$15.00 per ton for LeopoldshaU kainit. 
According to statements from German manufac>- 
turers and American importers and dealers, Leo- 
poldshall kainit costs a little less then $5 per toa 
at the mines. Freights across the Atlantic are low. 
so that it can be landed on this side for not. over 
$8.00 per ton, gold. Cartage, storage, and inci- 
dental expenses bring this cost up so that, for retail 
trade the profit begins, as I am told, at $10.50 to 
$11.00 per ton of 3.000 lbs. Some New York deal- 
ers sell small lots at $15.00 per ton of 3,000 lbs. 
Others charge from $18.00 to $38.00. It has been 
sold in New England for $30.00 and even $40.00 
per ton. In the words of one of the few dealers 
who refuse to handle these low grade wares, 
" such prices are abominable." 
For the evil, a serious one, of importing and us- 
ing so much of the low grade potash salts, both 
sellers and users are responsible. Importers and 
dealers naturally handle and encourage the sale of 
the wares on which the margins of the profit are the 
largest, and being able to get the heaviest percent- 
ages on these poor goods, and to dispose of more of 
them than they could of the better grades, they buy, 
advertise, recommend, and sell them. A great 
many farmers say, "Potash salts are potash salts," 
and take those that can be had at the lowest price, 
regardless of quality. As long as they will 
buy low grade potash salts and other fertili- 
zers because they are "cheap," they must expect 
to get poor wares at dear rates, and have poor suc- 
cess in using them. 
Will Potash Salts Take the Place of Ashes 
as Fertilizers;? 
Is a question which, judging from the frequent 
inquiries from all directions, interests a great many 
farmers. Generally speaking, I think the answer 
v/iU be, no, and for simple reasons, as explained in 
previous articles. Ashes contain all the essen- 
tial ingredients of plant food but nitrogen ; by 
their chemical action, they render the inert nitro- 
gen and other food ingredients in the soil availa- 
ble ; they improve the mechanical condition of the 
soil, and hence, like manure, are reliable and useful 
everywhere. Pota.sli salts, on the other hand, are not 
complete, "but partial," fertilizers. They contain 
little lime and magnesia, and no phospheric acid. 
The chlorides contain little of value but potash ; the 
sulphates only potash and sulphuric acid, as is il- 
lustrated below. »- 
ESSENTIAL INGEKDI- 
ENTS OP PLANT-FOOD 
IN" lUO POUNDS. 
FERTILIZEa. 
i 
lbs. 
BS. 
Its. 
lbs. 
ii 
7-10 
1-2 
44 
50 
3; 
25 
6 
10 
2 
IM 
i^ 
WooaABhes.jJ^,'..^^i,^,, ;;■;;;; ;;;;;;; 
25« 
33 
Gcrniiui f Sulpbute " SU per cent.".. .. 
Pociisli \ Cliloi-ide " SO per cent." 
Sn.lts, ( LeopoldshfiU Kniiiit 
The chief fertilizing ingredient of ashes is lime. 
Leached ashes with only 1 to 3 per cent of potash 
often prove as efficient as the unleached with 7 to 
10 per cent of potash. It is easy to see, therefore, 
that potash salts can be expected to take the place 
of ashes only where potash is the chief if not the 
only deficient ingredient, and the mechanical action 
of the ashes is not needed. By mixing lime and 
bone or other phosphates with potash salts, or if 
chlorides be used, substituting plaster (sulphate of 
lime) for lime, mixtures could be made of similar 
composition to ashes. 
GeiKcral Conclusions. 
The following are the more important practical conclu- 
sions to be drau'n from what has been said concerning 
the use of the German potash salts as fertilizers : 
1. Potassium, the basis of potash compounds, is indis- 
pensable to the growth of all our cultivated plants. It 
has at least one specific office in the nutrition of the 
plant, that of aiding in the formation of carbo-hydrates 
(starch). 'Without a plentiful pupply of potash, in avail- 
able forms, full crops are impossible. 
2. The German potash salts afford, at present, the 
cheapest and most available supply of potash for fertili- 
zers. They supply also more or less of magnesia and 
enlphuric acid, which are essential ingredients of plant- 
food, and sometimes deficient is our soils, and of sodium 
