Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-11-20

there is q continual rotation OF the work sos
the barrels without distributing any thing and
constantly providing strong liquor for the
kettle to be boiled without losing any salt
petre in the earth thrown away. 1t will gen.
orally take two days for the liquor TO drain
of from each barrel, but the time will vary
with the nature of the earth. as sandy one
may take but few hours whilst a clayey one
may take or more days. In this case it
Weald be better TO mix sand with the earth,
feaehed ashes. or even hay or straw than. to
lose so much time. Ii vats be made deeper
than a barrel, more time will be required to !
leach them off, which of course is to be
avoided, as nothing is gained by taking two
or tree weeks to leach off q large vat, whilst
the same earth in smaller watts or casks may
be leached IF 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
1T in clear glass. then gradually add the
lye and stir we'll. So long as the I've curdles ]
or clouds the liauor more must be added.
When sufficient Ale has been used, allow the
liquor to settle and become clear, then add
q few drops more of ye, If it no longer
clouds the liquor, sufficient has been used,
! and il adding the lye has been done careful
ly no more has been employed than was just
necessary 10 precipitate the impurities. We
4 Will SuppOse oHe gin VI I'VE has Dceu uScU W
the pint of liquor, then it would take eight
gilis or one quart of lye to eight pints or one
gallon os liquor-hence, knowing the num-
Der of gallons of liquor, it is easy to see at
once how many gallons of I've must be ad-
ded without further trial.
The above experiment may be employed
to ascertain if any earth contains Saltpetre,
for If the lye of wood ashes causes curdling,
or muddies the water in which considerable
quantity of the earth has been mixed and
then drained off, we may presume that there
is Saltpetre present, and the quantity will, In
general be in proportion to the amount of
curdling. A slight clouding of the liqpor
may be produced by other salts being present
instead of Saltpetre, but If there is much
curdling it is a pretty sure sign of Saltpetre.
II there be any doubt, however, allow the
muddy liquor to settle, then draw it off and
boil down until it thickens, then dip q slip
of paper into it and dry it well, touch q
coal of fire to the paper and if it burns rap
idly and sparkles, you may be sure Saltpetre
is present
iu making I've from wood ashes it is we'll
to 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 Salipetre liquor,
that is four barrels may be used together in
the tame way, keeping three filled with
ashes aud the fourth empty, and passing
the iye from one to the other rs before ex-
planned. By this means strong I've is always
on band to be used, and the Saltpetre liduor
is not watered too much by a weak Iye
which has TO be evapOrated away at an ex-
pense of fuel and labor.
| will now speak of the economy OF labor
operations: thus, if the cave is sufficiently
large and light enough, or can be lighted
cheaply by nre--the ashes OF which may be
used-it is evidently cheaper to carry the
watts and boilers into the cave just where the
earth Is, or near by, than to carry the earth
out in bags TO the outside of the cave to be
leached. Again, ii is more economical to
briug water to the earth than to take the
earth TO the water, when both are outside of
the cave, MS is sometimes done, because there
is much less weight of water used. BY pur-
suing the method pointed out no lime or ma
terial is lost--each day has its regular recur-
ring operations to be performed--no surplus
water has to be boiled away, and no lye is
wasted, rendering the Saltpetre impure
To give some idea as TO the quantity of
Saltpetre that can be made, will state that
twelve barrels of the earth of the caves will,
in general, make not less than one hundred
pounds of Saltpetre. and this will take from
twelve to fifteen bushels of ashes
II the twelve barrels are arranged in four
circles or rows, with an extra or fourth bar
rel TO each row, then barrel of the leached
earth can be emptied from every other row
each day, Cor two btrrels day. and the
same NUN Der filled with fresh earth, thus in
six days the twelve barrels viii have been
worked through, and this can be done by one.
man, whilst a second man bois away the
LIQUOR and attends TO the watts OF barrels; a
third man can more than supply the ashes
used, and Can assist in filling the barrels
Thus in six days We have the labor of three
men, which is abundantly ample to make
over one hundred pounds of Saltpetre un-
less the earth is difficult to be procured If
the earth is richer than that supposed, or Il
the teaching of each barrel takes but one
| day, instead of two, as will frequently be
| the case, then two hundred pounds of Salt
| petre may be procured in the same time, but
In the latter case will require additional Ia
Dor. This is at present worth seventy dollars.
| being the price which Government now pays
for a limited time at thirty-five cents per
| pound to encourage its production and to re-
mnnerate individuals for first cost OF appa-
| raas
Those who manufacture Saltpetre on
considerable scale, will find it convenient to
have two or more casks or cisterns sunk in
/ the earth, to receive the mother liquor from
the evaporating kettle, where it is left for
| twenty-tour hours to erystalise its Salt
petre. t|ta -<A'
In boiling the liquor from the watts or bar
reds aft er it has settled OF been strained
from the sediment formed by adding the I've,
| a thick scum will rise to the surface which
must be skinned off, as it forms, and thrown
on { he top of one of the watts, so as not to
lose the Saltpetre that may be dissolved from
| it. la-s 81 c6w aEar4 u
| The bottom OF the pot or boiler, after
lime will become foul from thu lime and
earthly salts deposited on it. which can be
| prevented, if thought necessary, to a con.
siderable degree, by sinking in the kettle
small pot with wide mouth. The sediment
! will collect in this pot, and can be removed
from time to time, because the liquor re-
mains comparatively still within it and al
! lows the salts to settle, whilst the agitation
| of the boiling prevents the sediment falling
| t. the bottom of the kettle,
| Saitpetre made after the foregoing direc-
! tions will not have above Eve per cent. of
! Impurities, but if carelessly made it will
| have much more, and as these have to be
separated at the refinery, before il can be
used for gunpowder, such SaItpetre is not
worth so much to Government.
Tasting the earth to see if it will Weld
| Saltpetre, is not very accurate way of de-
termining the fact because the lime Saltpctre
has less taste thau the potash Salipetre, and
the former is the one mainly in the earth.
l. which I've eonFerts into ordinary or nofasb