Delaware gazette and state journal., 1884-05-29
AGRICULTURAL MATTERS.
Goal ana wosd Ashes.

Ia a late builstin OF the New York Ex.
psrimsn, Station the following observA
tions on the use OF coal Ash,H ara made.
The question AS to its value becomes more
aud more interesting As the use OF coal
extenda: Ooe Of the most desirAbe ussa
for coal ashes 10 to place around the sisms
Of currsnt iushea, OF ounce .ress and the
mountain ash, In order to check the
ravagss OF the borer. In the garden OF
Robert j. Swan Of Geneva, are extraordi
nArily thrifty ourrant bushes, to which
coal ashes have been applied for many
yeRrs, and which have not only been free
from the borers but also from the attack
OF the ourraut worm. There are also
ounce trees OF equal thriftnesB, which
have been under like treatment, and iu
the lawn are number of mountain aahss,
some OF which have been treated with
coal ashes and the others have not, aud
the difference In vigor ie extremely we'll
marked in favor Of those to which coal
ashes have been applied. The ashes for
this purpose are heaped up about the
stem to hight, perhaps. .of six to eight
inches and extending about two feet from
the trunk. The explanation offered Is
that the ashes afford mechanical proteo
tion and slso are OF advantage as a mulch
In maintaining moisture and COOL tenn
perAture for the soil.
A correspondent OF the New York
EpangeiiH writes that paper as follows on
the utility Of ashes For the purpose OF
making stiii soil friAble. sifted coal ashss
(where they oKn bs readily had) are
better than sand. They are more easily
disseminated through the mAss, aud oon
nj a ~
likewise, though their merit is principally
mechanical. l had patch OF clay over
trsp-rook that after u rain took ON the
oonsistence OF putty. could do nothing
with 1t. Vegetable manure it soorned,
and the spade ont 1t as though IL WAS
skim-milk cheese. The place was made
the receptacle OF the winter's ashes. Two
years after II was dug up In the fall
through mistaken order. Next Bpring
l mAnured IL and had 1t dug over. Then
planted 1t, OF all things In the world,
with melons. They were a striking suc.
oess. More than that, the iriaeility OF
the soil remained permanent.
The Michigan Farmer is credited with
the following; Wood ashes are one OF the
most valuable fertilizers that n farmer
can apply to his soil. For root crops OF
all kinds, grasses, clover. &c they will
be found Just what Ia needed to stimula
and feed the crop. The ash ia the mineral
element of any vegetable structure, and
therefore, Indispensable to its growth
The farmer who will sell his ashes |,
actually parting with 30 much OF the
fertility OF his farm. As an application I,
reclaim marsh land, the effect Of ashes Il
often wonderful. The burnt lands in til,
Huron peninsula will have their produo
tiveness greatly increased by the buruiu,
OF the forests that covered them and tn
farmers there will receive great benefit il
the future from the clearing OF the land
and the depositing Of the ashes from tn
burned forest upon them.
The New York Tribune says: Woo
ashes represent all the mineral element
of vegetable growth,l and contain every
thing the farmer must give his crops ex
cept combined nitrogen. Wood ashe
will vary in composition and value wit
the kind OF wood and the part OF the tre,
will take the ash OF the body wood ,
the beech tree rs representing tn averag
OF wood ashes. A ton OF such ashes COZ
tains $40 pounds OF potash, worth slt
and los pounds of phosphoric aoi
(tnsoluble), worth o. 25. Omitting a
the other ash constituents, which hav
some value OF themselves, the potash an
phoephoric acid OF ton OF such ashes al
worth S2l 20, or nearly six times th
value OF ton of fresh horse dung.