ASH

ASH

to the injudicious management of people, who impru-dently laid on too great quantities of them at a time, bywhich means the corn was burnt. Afterwards theyfound that fix, or at most ten bushels, were sufficient tobe sowrt over an acre of wheat, pease, turnips, clover,rape seed, or saint-foin, as early as could convenientlybe done. But still many are afraid to sow them overbarlev, lest a dry season should ensue, and burn it up:for these ashes are thought to contain three times as muchsulphur as there is in coal-ashes. This is reasonablysupposed from their very strong sulphureous smell; theirsparkling and jumping when stirred while burning, andtheir drying up corn by their too great heat. Thesepeat-afhes, as likewise those of wood or coal, will helpto keep off the slugs from pease and other grains, by thesalt and sulphur contained in them, and conduce verymuch to their preservation in cold wet seasons. But nodanger of over-heating need be feared from the ashes ofthat peat-which grows, as turf, over sandy bottoms, asgreat quantities do on Leiehton heath in Bedfordshire ;for these are as much too lean, as the others are too rank.Ellis’s Modern Hufiandman , vol II.

These ashes are produced from land that is blackand crumbly at top, under which lies the peat, to thedepth of several feet. I hey do not burn the peat in thefield for ashes, by choice, because the peat is burnt forthe ashes when it cannot be dried sufficiently for sale :and then it is burnt in large heaps, with a smotheringfire: as is likewise the superficial black earth or moorysoil, together with the refuse of the peat: the ashes ofthese are laid up in round or long heaps, rising at top likethe ridge of a house, in order to throw off the rain, andkeep them dry, till they are sold. Sometimes they arelaid under dry sheds, or in-houfes, to save them from wet,which they cannot be wholly protected from, by layingthem up n ridges, exposed to the weather, into which therain penetrates for some inches deep: and these a sires arenever so good manure as those that are kept dry.

Near the surface os the peat-earth here, there is some-times a bed of whitish earth, called maum, whichis a composition of earth, and very small shells of theperiwinkle kind this is also burnt to ashes for manure,and the quantity of it is in some places so great, that thea so es are of a whitish colour; and those from the peator moorish earth are reddish. The white ashes are es-teemed to be as good manure as the red: and being akind of shell-marl, would make good manure withoutbeing burnt; as indeed they rarely are thoroughly, tho’they seldom lay them upon land, tiil they have passed thefire, or are mixed with the a sir es of the peat-earth. Thea so es of the peat sold for fuel, and burnt in chimnies,are a much stronger manure, than the ashes burnt in thefield; and if care is taken to keep them dry, are sold forabout double the price of the field ashes.

We must not here omit the account'which the ingeniousMr. du Hamel has given of a kind of peat-afhes made inFrance, as the fame kind of earth with that from whencethey are burnt may be doubtless found in many partsof England, if farmers would give themselves the trou-ble to search for it.

This peat is a blackish earth, resembling the soil ossome meadows. When hurnt it emits a thick, disagree-able sulphureous vapour. A certain degree of moisturehelps to make it burn, though even then it wastes butslovviy. After it has once taken fire it burns of itself,

but without producing any flame. It is, of so caustic a,nature, that it would strip off the skin of the hands andfeet of the men who knead it, if they did not take pro-per precautions against that inconvenience. Its ashesretain this caustic quality; for the hands of those pea-sants who strew them are often hurt by it, if the air beat all d£mp. This earth, in its natural position, runs inveins of different sizes ; sometimes seven or eight feetthick, and thirty or forty feet long ; and sometimes theyextend four or five hundred feet; after which the veinoften fails at once, and perhaps is not found again tilltwo or three miles off. These veins generally lie prettynear the surface of the earth, seldom deeper than twelveor fifteen feet.

This earth is found only in marshy places, which mustsometimes be drained before it can be come at. It shewsitself by a slimy skin over the adjacent waters.

Three pounds of this earth being distilled in a retort,produced fifteen ounces of a bituminous oil, resemblingthat extracted from pit-coal; and the residuum yielded,when washed, about half a pound of vitriol.

The method of preparing this earth, in order to renderit fit for fertilizing land, is as follows: water is thrownover it, and two or three men knead it with their feet,till they bring it to the consistence of a paste, which isthen made into cakes seven or eight inches in diameter.These cakes are laid by to dry, though not to such adegree but that there still remains a little moisture in them,that being necessary to facilitate their burning.

The cakes thus prepared are piled up in the form of apyramid, with sufficient spaces between them for the fireto penetrate ; and under this pyramid, which is builtupon a kind of hearth, a little straw and brush-wood islaid to set them on sire. Two or three days after theirashes are spread with a rake, that they may cool. Someveins of this earth yield white ashes, but they are not sogood as those of a reddish hue.

From fifty to seventy pounds of these ashes are spreadupon each acre of land in April or May ; and in about aweek’s time the blades of corn, or grafs, if it be pastureground, assume a new verdure, and appear surprisinglystrong, even in the coldest soils.

Some of these bituminous earths are better than others.Care must be taken to begin to rake out the ashes ofeach pyramid as soon as the greater part of it is burnt ;for they would lose a great deal of their virtue, if lefton the fire till all that is inflammable be consumed : norwould the fire go out in less than a fortnight or threeweeks, if they v. ere not scraped away as they areformed.

It would be needless to mention, that a greater quan-tify of the ashes of an inferior quality must be used,than those that are stronger, and consequently better;but it may not be amiss to observe, that, in general,wet lands require more than dry soils, The effects ofthis manure will be manifest for two or three years. Itmight be dangerous to renew it every year. Traite de laCulture dt Tcrres , tom. V. pag. 226.

Cot Ashks are the refuse or ashes remaining after thefait, called pot-asiies, is extracted from them.

These ashes are of great service to most sorts of land ;hut as they have been in a great measure deprived oftheir salts, it is necessary to lay them on much thickerthan other ashes. A bushel and a half of these may beused for a bushel of fresh ashesbut they should always

be