Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1871-03-31

OXlues Ol IRON ana manganese i ID.
1t is the work of the soap-boiler to re-
move from ashes what is soluble in water,
which Is accomplished in the leach tub,
and this is all the change they undergo in
his establishment The ashes go in dry,
holding the soluble and insoluble sub
stances they come out wet, deprived of
six and three-f6urth pounds of potash and
soda. 1t should be stated, however, that
about one pound Of quick-lime is added to
each bushel of ashes in the leach, to rem
der the lye caustic. This adds one pound
more of lime to the insoluble residuum, or
the leached ashes, making it weigh, if it
was free from water, forty-four pounds.
In teaching, the ashes do not change
much in bulk, but they are largely in
creased in weight from the contained
water.
Now, what is the commercial value of
the ashes before and after they pass through
the soap-maker's handsH In the dry state
the
Cents.
Four and one-half pounds of potash and soda
are worth cents a pound. d....................27
Other soluble constituents. .................... 3
Thirty-two pounds carbonate of lime. ........ q
Ihree pounds phosphate OF lime e................ 9
Three pounds siltcate Observation-Disclosures.
Iron and maganese OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.
40
This estimate which is fair one, gives
value per bushel of thirty-nine cents /;
that is, the substances found in bushel of
good sound wood ashes are worth, in the
market, that sum, at the present time. BY
teaching the ashes, thirty cents of the
commercial value is removed and convert
ed into soap; this leaves nine cents as the
value of the constituents OF o bushel of
leached ashes. The silicate of lime, and
the metals, practically, have no market
value. and are not considered.
What is the agricultural value Of the
two forms of fertilizers? The ashes hold
ing all their normal constituents, are
worth more applied to soils than for other
| uses when separated, dollars and cents
being considered. A bushel, judiciously
employed, will return, in most seasons,
sixty or seventy cents worth of products
the first year. The potash and soda, com
bined as they are in ashes, in the form of
carbonates, sulphates, and silicates, are in
precisely the right condition to be readily
assimilated, and also to aid in rendering
assimilable, many important constituents
of the soil.
The leached ashes also are worth more
than nine cents bushel. Relatively they
are worth more for soil employment than
the unleached, regard being had to the
commercial value of the substances when
separated. A good honest bushel of
moist, leached ashes will give returns the
first year of the value of fifteen or twenty
cents; and owing to- the peculiar deccm-
posing influence upon the insoluble con-
stituents of the silicates, etc, remaining
in the mass, their infiuenc extends outside
of themselves, and continues for a long
time. A pound of phosphate of lime
found in ashes is worth more than pound
of bone dust, as it is in condition to be
readily taken up by plants. The carbonate
of lime is worth more than chalk or the
same agent in other forms, inasmuch as it
has once'passed through plant structures
The estimates here presented are only
rough ones, but they are sufficiently exact
to serve as guide in learning the value of
leached and unleached wood ashes. We
have experimental considerably with
ashes in both forms, upon soils of various
kinds, and what we have here stated is the
result of our own practical experience
Boston Journal Of Chemistry.