Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1846-06-12
THE =, FARM.
From the Cultivation.
ON THE USE OF LEACHED ASHES

wish, for the benefit Of one of YOUR correspon
dents, II. C. b., some information on tn
value Of ashes, g.. &c. and call upon chem
lists 10 tell Not being exactly a chemist my
self, yet having dug into the science little
for the purpose Of assisting me in my fArmin,
oper atoms, will offer few remarks:-
Wood ashes, as you observe, generally d,
best on rather light soils; # they are applied
in large quantities, either leac,cd or unlcach
ed, they have tendency to bring in the ret
moss, but upon gravclly soils this may no, b,
detrimental, as they are usually dry an,
warm enough if there is moss. But upon NOR,
moist or close soils, ashes may uItima,el,
prove injurious.
Unleacl,ed ashes when first applied Il
grass, or other crops, are much more efficien
than leached, owing to the much greater a
mount Of aIkati, or potash they contain, bu
] do no, think the sowing Of unIeached asl,e.
upon land the nos, economical way of using
them. Ifa heavy rain Immediately follows
the potash is mostly washed out aud carried
of the land, or sinks into the soil beyond
the reach Of the roots Of the plants
.Common potash svcry readily dissolved in
about its weight of water. liza farmer wish
es TO apply un-achpd ashes to his grass OF
grain crops, it would be the better way To
mix his ashes quite moist with ground gvp-
sum, and let them remain for some time in
the heap. The potash of the ashes would
decompose the gypsum and sulphale of pot
ash would be formed. Sulpiate Of potash is
much less soluble than carbonate of potash,
as it requires sixteen pounds of water Cat the
Temperature of 60 degrres) to dissolve one
pound Of sulphate of potash. From this fact,
the loss of pntash bv rains would he likely To
be much less, and for clover, c.bbaers, tnr-
neps. radishes, the snl pha,e is decidedly bet.
ter than the Carbonate Of potash.
But think it a much more economical
plan to mix ashes with swamp muck, peat or
drcsying vegetable matter from the woods.
All these substances are acid (decomposing
vegetable matters always produce acids. j.
These acids want ncuiralizing before the
muck, &c, are suitable n,annres for mos,
crops, (sorr"l excep'ed.) Frequently swamp
muck is saturated with sulphale of iron, or
alumina, that has oozrd out in the water
from higher land. In such cases, the ashes
will have the direct cftert to nru,ralize the
scid,,y of the muck, and make il good ma.
nure.
Leached ashes are highly valued bv the
farmers upon Long Island, but | susppc
that most that are used there are from the
soap-boIers, and | think they are better foI
agricultural purposes than the Ieached ashe,
from the potash or pearlash factory. ia leach.
ing ashes for making soap, generally, there
is about one peck Of limc used to each bush
al ,f act. I,,,t i, I,,,l.,
limr, with the leaciled ashes f ON the pot.
ash.
There is. after the usual process of leach.
ing ashes for soap or potash, a certain guam
tity Of potash left in the ashes, in comhn.
ton with slick. Dr.. Dana says there are 81
lbs. of potash in IA cord of lrachrd asl,rs-
Exposure to the air drcomposcs this, an,
then another portion of alkai can he extract
ed BY water. This partially explains villa
you have heard Of the Long Island farmers
who consider the lrachcd AS good rs the un
teached ashes, provided they are no, used fo
sometime after beirg leached.' And va,
farther say, some suppose they attract valn
able properties after coming from, the leach
tub. Is it so! and if any, what are the prop
critics acquired Z In answer to vonr qnes
ton, | say yes, i, is so, and will explain il.
quantity of le.ched ashes are piled ~
under cover of shed exposed to the air
ano,her portion Of akali will be set free b,
the decomposition of the slick, as before stat
ed, and the akali has a strong aft atty 70
nitric acid. The air we breathe is mos,l
enmposed Of nitrogen, 70 parts, and 81 part
Of oxygen; in these proportions, these tw
gases are mechanically combined. But b
we'll known chemical laws, these two case
chemically combine in several different pro
portions. and form very different substance
from common air. In one of their chemici
combinations. they unite in the proportion
Of IA parts nitrogen and 40 parts oxygen
and IN these proportions it is called nilrl
acid, and mixed with a certain quantity q
water it becomes hydrO-niric, acid, or aqua
FORTS. If common pot or pearlash is dis
solved in diluted aqnaforlis, and the liqui
evapora,e', the result will he niire, or salt
petre. But this is an artificial way of max
ing saltPctre-and expensive too.
Nature takes a somewhat different meth
cd. As before stated, the alkali in the leach
ed ashes has s,rong affinity for nitric acic
and so strong is that affinity or attraction
that the nitrogen aud oxv zen Of the a,mos
phere, will rery eommodatin gIy CHEMICAL
combine in the right proporiinns to form nj
tic acid. which re IDLY uniles with the ak al
and forms nire or salIp-ire-na,urally, an
cheap TOO, The longer The ashes are ken
and occasionally moislened aud shovell..
over, the greater the accumulation Of Mir
But If the ashes are occasionally wet vii
urine, DRAWINGS from the manure heap,
mixed with night soil, or decaying amin
msiter-spbs,ances all rich in nilroeen-,
process will be much hasiened, and the az
emulation of ni,re much greater in u give
ts.e. Perhaps twelve months would be
proper lime for The ashes TO remain.
A similar process is going on under q
hsuses and other buildings; the potash in Il
felspsr and mica of our soils, is being slow
but continually dissolving, and as there is all
a continual ascent Of water, by evapora,io
each particle Of water as il ascends brin,
with X its particle Of potash, which his n
turned in the dry surface soil, which combin
With the nitric acid. And there are Il
9uen,ly large accumula,ions of nitre und