136 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
April. 
Ashes of Anthracite and Bituminous Coal. 
Analytical Laboratory, Yale College, 1 
New-Haven, Conn.. Feb. 25, 1851. j 
Messrs. Editors —During the past year, several of 
the students in this laboratory have, at my suggestion, 
been examining the ashes of our ordinary coals, with a 
view to the determination of their practical value for 
agricultural purposes. The analyses now completed are 
so accurate and so minute, that we are for the first 
time able to speak positively with regard to coal ashes, 
and to point out the differences which exist between them 
and other varieties of ashes. The researches of modern 
geology have shown that the beds from which at the 
present day we obtain the various forms of coal, consist 
chiefly of the remains of an ancient vegetation, which 
beyond all question, covered large portions of the earth’s 
surface at some period in the earlier history of the 
planet. This vegetation must have been dense and luxu¬ 
riant beyond anything that occurs at the present day. 
Some of the many convulsions and internal throes which 
have altered the position of rocks, upheaved hills and 
mountains, opened deep valleys, brought up dry land 
from the midst of the sea, and sunk whole continents 
beneath its surface again, have overwhelmed this vegeta¬ 
tion, and heaped materials above it. which have gradual¬ 
ly hardened into rock. Stratum after stratum has thus 
accumulated, new layers of vegetable growth have even 
been deposited above the first, by a subsequent growth 
and subsequent burial. The vegetable masses thus 
crushed under the superincumbent jxressure of perhaps 
a thousand feet 'of rock, and exposed to heat at the same 
time, changed into what we now call coal. The pro¬ 
duct was either anthracite or bituminous coal, according 
to the different circumstances of formation, and the 
different degrees of heat to which the beds were exposed. 
In the immediate vein of the coal, all traces of vegeta¬ 
ble structure are commonly lost, but in the roof of the 
mine are frequently to be found perfectly preserved 
stems and leaves, so perfect that the botanical character 
of the plant can be clearly decided. We are thus able 
to see, and to feel, on the surface and in the texture of 
solid rock brought sometimes from a depth of 1600 feet, 
the forms of that superb vegetation which clothed parts 
of our globe for centuries, or I may say long ages, be¬ 
fore man became its inhabitant. 
The formation of these vast vegetable deposits seems 
to have been one of the means by which our all wise 
Creator prepared the world for our comfort and sus¬ 
tenance ; when we have exhausted in our improvidence 
the vegetable growth of the surface, we find buried 
deep beneath all of our present disturbing causes, the 
organic structures of preceding periods of time, stored 
away in a form exactly adapted to our uses and wants. 
The quantity of coal now consumed annually in civil¬ 
ised countries, may be counted by millions of tons, and 
is increasing in proportion with the spread of manufac¬ 
turing, and the extension and augmentation of commerce. 
If we take any single bushel, or even a singleton of this 
coal, and burn it, the proportion which remains uncon¬ 
sumed is altogether trifling in comparison with the origi¬ 
nal bulk, and may seem almost unworthy of note; but 
when we come to count our tons by the thousand and 
hundred thousand, this subject of coal ashes begins to 
expand • and when we consider in this view the immense 
aggregate quantity which every year must afford, we see 
that the disposal of them must be a matter of much im¬ 
portance. If the thousands of loads that are annually 
wasted, contain even a small per centage of substances 
valuable to our crops, the preservation of these ashes 
becomes a question of great public interest. That they 
must contain something, is rendered almost certain when 
we first ascertain the fact that coal is of vegetable origin - T 
the next point is to inquire how much there is that may 
be of value to our crops at the present day. It is with 
the view of deciding this question, at least with regard 
to some of the principal varieties of coal used in this 
country, that the analyses herewith given have been 
made. 
The coal was ignited in an ordinary furnace, and the 
fire, when well kindled, was allowed to burn for nearly a 
whole day, before any ash was saved • the grate was then 
well raked out, the ash pit carefully cleared and swept, 
and the ashes that fell after this were collected. These 
precautions were taken to obviate all danger of mingling 
some of the ashes from the wood or charcoal employed 
in lighting the fire. 
The samples for analysis were taken each from several 
pecks of ashes, obtained in this way. 
The investigations with regard to the anthracite ash, 
were made by Mr. J. B. BuxcEof Hartford, Ct., and his 
results were the product of much careful labor, nearly 
all of the per centages being the mean of two closely 
concurring trials. He took fair samples of the ordinary 
white and red ash coals, and after burning in the way 
that I have described above, commenced his^analyses-. 
According to these , the following table shows the general 
composition of ash, from the common kinds of coal. 
That there is a variation in the ash yielded by coal from 
different veins, I am well aware, but still do not suppose 
that they are so marked as to materially injure the value 
of these analyses. I think that they probably approach 
quite nearly to a true representation of the character of 
anthracite ashes, and that they may be looked upon as 
very valuable for all practical purposes.. 
Each colume of figures represents the constituents of 
100 lbs. of ash. 
Insoluble in acids,. 
White Ash. 
Red Ash . 
. 85.65 
Soluble silica,. 
.09. 
. 1.24 
Alumina,. 
. 4.24 
Iron,. 
....... 4.03 . 
Lime,.. 
.16 
Magnesia,... 
.19.. 
. 2.01 
Soda,. 
.22. 
.16 
Potash,. 
.16. 
.11 
Phosphoric acid,. 
.20. 
...... .27 
Sulphuric sicift} • • 
.86. 
.43 
Chlorine,. 
.09. 
.01 
99.99 
100.11 
These close and interesting analyses, afford us much 
light upon the constitution of coal ash, and enable the 
chemist who has studied these subjects, to say at once 
and with confidence that this ash is of some value as a 
manure, and should by all means be so applied in cases 
where it can be obtained cheaply. 
Of the white ash 3.74lbs. in 100 were soluble in water, 
and in the red ash 3.35. Besides this there was a farther 
