Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1861-11-22


should be made along the centre Of The earth in
the vat, TO collect the water poured Ia.
Whether watts, casks or barrels be used, the .
same principle must be carried Out Of passing
the leached Tor drained) liquor from the irst
vessel into the second, and from the second 10
The third before boiling. otherwise there will be
much time and fuel lost In useless boiling OF q,
weak liquor this IL common error atthe saves,
aud causes the saltpetre 10 cost more than is
necessary in time, labOr and fuel. ~ ~ ~
We will now follow the process Of teaching
more particularly. Suppose II takes eight gall
Ions Of water to all up the barrel after the earth
has been put in even with It's top, or nearly 90,
then about one half or four gallons only, will
drain of, generally we must now refill the bar
rel With four gallons more Of water, and this
time four gallons will drain or leach out be-
cause the earth has already been charged with
water. Again we refill the barrel the third
time, putting in four gallons of water more, and
after four gallons Of liquor Tor as much ms win
drain AWAY has again leached OF, the earth
must be thrown out and the barrel reflled with
fresh earth from the cave.
Il will now be explained how 10 proceed 90 ~
TO have regular rotation Of the barrels as they
shall be emptied one after the other Of the old
earth aud reflled with fresh earth from tue cave.
It will be supposed at frst that the work is on
a small scale, then there win be required four
barrels, if 1t be desired TO proceed economical.
lyi to make it clear, we will suppose that these
four barrels are placed round in circle near
each other, aud three Of them are filed with
fresh EARTH the fourth remaining empty. Now
when the earth of the first barrel has been ex-
hsusted of saitretre by the three .washiags, 1t
will be thrown out, but instead Of filling up this
barrel with fresh EARTH We fill up the fourth or
empty barrel and this can be going on during
the teaching. Thus we have three barrels work.
ing as at first, the fresh barrel being the third
in the now series, and receiving the leached liz
g.. IL "A a. =
the new arrangement, however, has already been
washed twice, before the new barrel was filed
with earth hence, after washing IL once more
with the four gallons of water, which it has Just
received from the barrel Just emptied-Awheh
quantity drains off and is poured into the one
next TO 1.-THE earth Is removed aud this barrel
left empty. Barrel number one which we 6rst
emptied of the old earth, having now been re-
filled with earth from the cave becomes the third
in the new arr angerhent, and so on.
The liquor of the first of the three working
barrels being always poured into the second bar
REL aud the liquor which teaches from this TO
be always poured into the thi'd barrel, and final
ly the liquor which drains from this barrel is to
be put into the vessel, where the I've from the
ash barrel is mixed with 1t and the whole allow
| ed to settle. When the liquor has become clear
by settling or being strained through cloth, il
is ready to be placed into the kettle for boiling
down. Thus there is a continual rotation Of the
work of the barrels without disturbing an ything
and constantly providing strong liquor for the
kettle TO be boiled without losing any saltpetre
in the earth thrown away. II will generally
take two days for the liquor to, drain off from
each barrel, but the time will vary with the ma.
ture of the earth, as n sandy one may take but a
few hours whilst clayey one may take three OF
more days. In this case IL would be better to
mix sand with the earth leached ashes, or grav-
ell, or even hay or straw than TO lose 80 much
time. If watts be made deeper than barrel,
more time will be required to leach them off /,
which of course is 10 be avoided as nothing 10
gained by taking two or three weeks to bleach of
n large vat, whilst the same earth in smaller
vats or casks may be leached off in two days. ~
With regard to mixing the I've Of wood ashes
with the liquor Of the third vat or barrel, the
proper way Is to take certain quantity, say one
pint, of the liquor and put il in q clear glass,
then gradually add the lye and stir well. So
long as the, lye ourdes or clouds the liquor more
must be added. When sufficient I've has been
used, allow the liquor TO settle and become clear,
then add few drops more of I've, IL it no longer
clouds the liquor, sufficient has been used, ana
if adding the I've has been done carefully NO
more has been employed than was just necessa-
ry TO precpitste the impurities. We will sup
pose one gill Of lye has been used TO the pint Of
lliquor, then it would take eight gills or ono
quart Of I've to eight piuts or one gallon Of
liquor knowing the number of gallons
of liquor, 1t Is easy TO see at once how many
trial. -tt,t
The above experiment may be employed to az
certain it any earth contains Saltpetrs, for II
the I've of wood ashes causes q curdling, or mud
dies he water in which considerable quantity
Of the earth has been mixed and then drained
} off may presume that there Is Saltpetre pres
ent, and the quantity with ia general, be In pro-
portion to the amount Of curdling. A slight
couding Of the liquor may be produced by Other
salts being present instead of Saltpetre, bat N
there is much curdling 1t is o pretty sure sign
of Saltpetre. Ii there be any doubt, however,
allow the muddy water to settle, then draw II
off and boil down until 1t thickens then dip q
slip Of paper into 1t and dry 1t well, touch coal
of fire to the paper aud IL 1t burns rapidly and
sparkles, you may be sure Saltpetre Is present.
In making lye from wood ashes 1t Is we'll 10
remark that the leaves, bark, branches and
} limbs Of the tree contain more potash than the
! trunk and that the oak and ash are generally
the best woods to get ashes from. In teaching
the ashes similar arrangement may be used,
as for the Saltpetre liquor, that Is four brrrels
may be used together In the same way, keeping
three filled with ashes and the fourth empty, and
passing the lye from one TO the other as before
} explained. By this means strong iye Is always
on hand to be used, and the Saltpetre liquor IL
not wltered too much by a weak lye which has
: to be evaporated away at an expense Of fuel aud
labor. -a... .,.s
! l will now speak Of the economy Of labor In
} the operations thus, II the cave Is sufficiently
large and light enough, or can be lighted cheaply
, by fre--the ashes of which may be used--it Is
) evidently cheaper 10 carry the vats aud boilers
. into the cave just where the earth is, or near
by, than TO carry the earth out in bags 10 the
: outside Of the cave to be leached. again, IL Is
more economical TO bring water TO the earth than
to take the earth TO the water when both are
outside OF the cave, as Is sometimes done, be-
; cause there is much less weight Of water used.
By pursuing the method pointed out no time or
curing operations TO be performed--no surplus
water has to be boiled away and no lye is wsst-
r ed, rendering the Saltpetre impure. ~ str.
10 give some idea as to the quality Of Salt
petre that can be made, | will state that twelve