SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
_ ANALYSIS OF THE ASH. ‘ Si int 
| mint Large Stalks, 
ah 10 Ashes, po aa Erie etter 
; : Per cent. Percent. | Percent. . 
Chlorides extracted with hot water, as Cl. .. 8:7 
Sulphates as So., a3 ie uc ie IBD 
Solubility— 
Water only .. ‘y; os, wt 20°1 46-0 88:5 
Acid ae be sa os 36°9 22°4 11°3 
Insoluble... Mt: se He 43°0 31°6 0°2 
Potash. Total (K,0) be = 15°3 39 25-8 
Water, Soluble only .. Hi bi. oh Bo 25°7 
Water+ Weak Acid, soluble .. im 12°7 e: Ay 
Phosphorus (P,0;) oh “¢ 0 2°8 2°2 2°9 
SAME SCENE SHOWING RIVER FREE OF HYACINTH. 
The ten results of potash were, approximately, as follows, in percentage, and 
also percentages of water plus weak acid soluble in second row:— 
Total KsO 5.3, 10.5, 10.3, 25.1, 14.7, 14.0, 18.8, 26.0, 12.9 
Soluble 2.2, 7.7, 4.6, 25.1, 12.7, 11.7, 15.4, 25.8, 9.7, 11.8 i 
The most important result of this work has been to show that the variable 
composition of the plant in respect to the potash content given by Finlow and 
McLean, in India (Journal of Agriculture, India, July 1917), is due to the 
different amounts of ash contained in the plant, and that this variability is due- 
to the presence of fine particles of silt, &c., adhering to the roots of the. plant, 
and, therefore, to some extent adventitious. In all cases in which the ash 
content is high, the potash content of the ash is low, and vice versd. The lowest 
percentage of ash was obtained from samples mostly composed of stalks. To: 
ascertain whether the potash salts could be easily washed out of the sun-dried 
plants, hot water extracts were made, and after determining the amount of 
chlorine in these, the whole material was added together, evaporated, and ignited. 
The ash was twice extracted. with water and re-ignited to secure a complete 
“combustion. Both potash and phosphates were determined. The ash is very 
high—mean 27.6 per cent. The lowest from stalks, 10.5 per cent.; next, larger 
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