HUSB 
heavy foils, the quantity of allies in the compoft Ihould be 
much greater than on thofe. of the lighter kinds ; they are, 
in general, the molt effectual when applied as a top-dreffing 
to graft-lands, especially fuch as rare commonly termed 
foui - , or have much tendency to the production of mofs. 
- Pot-a/Ji, or fixed vegetable alkali. From experiments 
that have been made it appears, that aoolb. of pot-alh are 
fufficient for an acre of ftrong land ; for lighter foils 
much left is required, if laid on by itfelf; on thefe how¬ 
ever a compoft of this and oil, incorporated with mould, 
will be the beft way of employing it. Upon ftrong clays 
and deep loams however, it ought always to be ap¬ 
plied by itfelf. When the expence of carriage is cordi- 
dered, pot-aih will often be found a cheaper manure than 
lime. In one refpeft it is fuperior, for the union of pot- 
alh with all the different acids forms a neutral, which is 
i;i fome degree ufefui in vegetation; whereas, when lime 
meets with the vitriolic acid, it is almoft entirely loft. 
Kelp is a mixture of. foffil alkali or foda, and fea-falt, 
belides earth or Hones: All marine plants abound with 
this alkali. The operation of kelp depends upon the 
fame principles as lime, pot-afli, &c. Like them, it pro¬ 
duces the beft effects upon deep lpams or clays ; and the 
benefit will be ftill farther increafed, if lime be made ufe 
of along'with it. Kelp fliould be broken very fmall with 
large hammers, or by palling it through a mill. 
Fern-ajhes. No vegetable affords fo much pot-alh as 
fern, but it is better to ufe it as litter for manure than 
to burn it for the aflies. Fern-nfhes ought not to be 
ufed by themfelves, unlefs upon the heavieft and deepelt 
foils, for corn-crops, or upon wet four meadows ; upon 
other lands they Ihould be mixed with dung and earth. 
Fern, ought to be cut before it decays, either for litter or 
the allies ; for all plants that contain much fixed alkali, 
when withered, are liable to be robbed of it by every 
Ihower that falls. 
Peal-aflies are principally employed as a top-dreffmg 
upon clover or clay-lands ; and, when rain fills immedi¬ 
ately,the crop is benefited by the ufe of them; but upon 
thin foils, when dry weather fucceeds, they produce no 
eft’eft, or even do harm, efpecially if they have been pre¬ 
pared from the richeft fort of peat. 
The peat of fome moffes contains a confiderable quan¬ 
tity of fixed alkaline falts, whuff that of others contains 
fcarcely any. All peats however agree in affording more 
or.left alkali when burnt, and the value of their afnes de¬ 
pends entirely upon the quantity of fixed alkali which 
they contain; for the burning of peat, like every other 
vegetable fubftance, is utter deftruftion to its other com¬ 
ponent parts; the oil being difiipated in fnioke, and the 
vegetable earth rendered entirely ufelefs. The fixed al- 
Jcali contained in peat is from a twenty-fecond to a thirty- 
fecond part of its weight. Where the peat is fo rich as 
to afford a twenty-fecond part, it is an object to burn it 
for the allies ; but left trouble and very fmall expence 
will fubjeft it to the procefs of fermentation, by which 
the oil and vegetable earth will be laved. This however 
can be done only in the neighbourhood of a mofs, the 
carriage of the peat in fubftance to any confiderable dif- 
tance being too heavy an expence. 
Eight or ten buftiels of rich peat-allies are fufficient to 
drels an acre. They Ihould be laid on in the fpring, be¬ 
fore the plants have attained any great fize, in wet or at 
leaft cloudy weather. Or they may be Town and har¬ 
rowed in with the grain ; in which cafe a greater quan¬ 
tity will be requifite than when they are ufed as a top- 
dreffmg. 
Allies burnt from fat black peat, fuch as is dug about 
Newbury in Berldhire, and in fame parts of the Iile of 
Ely, are fo rich, that farmers are afraid to lay them on 
barley, nof do they drefs their wheat with them till late 
in the fpring. If fown too thick, and a dry fealon 
(Jiould enfue, they are apt to burn the tender fibres of 
tlie corn. They deftroy Hugs on peafe, &c. better than 
any thing. 
.. Voh.X. No. 685. 1 
A N D R Y. 573 
Peat-allies are an excellent improver of grafs-lands, 
particularly of clover and faintfoin; the quantity from 
fifteen to twenty-five buftiels, according to the condition 
of the land. They are bought on the fpot from 2d. to 
4-d. a buffiel, according to their goodnefs. This manure 
has been known in Berklhire near a century ; they fell 
into difufe from having been laid on in quantities too 
great, but are now generally adopted by every farrper 
within a reafonable dil’cance of the Berk fid re peat-moffes, 
Peat-afties are delivered on the land about Dunftable, 
at 4jd. the buffiel, ftruck ; forty buftiels is a complete 
drelling for an acre, and colls about 16s. They greatly 
improve dry chalk foils, but do little good on wet land 
or cold fward, or on hot fandy lands. 
Peat-duft, or peat ground to powder, anfwers equally 
well witii che allies, in the fame quantity. It is efteemed 
the beft manure for afparagus, onion-beds, and flowers, 
mixed.will) dung ; and deitroys thirties, if laid on in fuf¬ 
ficient quantity, or repeated. 
Wood-ajhcs are ufefui as a manure, principally on ac¬ 
count of the pot-alli which they contain. The allies of 
fir, pine, &c. have very little of it; but oak, alh, and 
molt of the hard woods, abound in pot-alh. Except upon 
the ftrongeft and 1110ft tenacious foils, the rich kinds of 
wood-alhes are too Itimulating, and are beft ufed in a 
compoft with earth and dung, or any animal fubltances. 
They effectually correft four foils ; confequently, upon 
poor meadows or rulhy grounds, they produce effects 
fimilar to lime; and, if mixed with quicklime, their bene¬ 
ficial effects will be heightened. 
Coal-a/kes are well adapted to clays and deep loams, by 
breaking the tenacity, of the foil. On light foils they 
fiiould never be ufed but in form of compoft with earth, 
or earth and dung. Where much fea-weed, or the re¬ 
fute of multard manufactures, can be obtained, an excel¬ 
lent top-dreffmg may be made with thefe, the flielis of 
the milliard-feed, and lime. Coal-aflies colt in London 
from 6s. to 14s. the waggon-load. They are diftributed 
on the land about Dunitable with a fiiovel from'a cart or 
wheelbarrow ; but the common way is to fow them by 
hand. From fifty to fixty buthels is a complete drelfing 
for a llatute-acre. They fucceed well fown on clover in 
March or April, 011 dry chalk lands ; and do much good 
to fward, applied during any part of the winter or fpring-. 
They are never ufed, about Dunftable, on wheat. In 
very dry feafons they do little good except on cold fward, 
which they always improve. They require rain after be¬ 
ing fown to let them to work. 
Coal-aflies are of great ufe in the kitchen-garden, 
where the natural foil is too ftrong and ftubborn. Mor¬ 
timer and Bradley both agree that they are one of the 
belt and molt lafting manures for cold lands ; and the 
fitteft to kill worms, See. Even fo early as Worlidge’s 
time they were thought to form an excellent compoft 
with horfe-dung; and to kill mofs and ruihes in wet 
grounds. 
Aflies from kilns of any forts, but particularly where 
wood, ftraw, or furze, are burnt, are a good manure for 
molt kinds of foil. In fnort the athes of all vegetables 
are an excellent manure ; fo that, where ground is over¬ 
run with bullies, brambles, heath, See. if thefe be grub-' 
bed up in fummer, and fpread abroad to dry, then gently 
confirmed to aflies, and thefe afnes fpread on the land, 
they will greatly improve it. 
It is much to be lamented that farmers fuffer thirties 
and other great weeds to grow on headlands and in waffes 
till they fill the fallows with feeds; when by cutting 
them down in full vigour, and either fermenting them 
with dung, or burning them for the aflies, they might 
obtain a quantity of valuable manure. 
Soot is another fubftance that experience has Ihown to 
be of confiderable utility, where it can be collected in 
fufficient quantities and applied to land as a manure. The 
beneficial confequences relulting from the ufe of this fub¬ 
ftance depend, probably in a great degree, on the quantity 
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