COAL ASH.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2376, 16 September 1869, Page 3

COAL ASH.

To tJie Editor of the Ot 'ago Daily Times. Sin—l believe there exists amongst the aplevned some doubt as to whether it is expedient to use the ash of lignite in agricultural and horticultural..parsuits, ;■ * For the purpose of solving the doubt, I forward jsn extract from Public Opinion re-, girding the use of Coal Ash, and wonld, through your cpiumos, solicit inlormation si to fiio diflbrence of the chemical properties of the two, and under: wh»t; o rcuttmtincei lignite iash may be used,:i£-ever ''r—l am, *«., ■ *-i—--'iNDOCtm- <-• jDunedinj September 14;^ ■=^^-- : Utihty or' CoAry ask :W, AoaicatTTinK:— A correspondent of; the Paris Journal ot Agriculture, seeing tho amount of ashes thrown away annually,' and considering that, Sir Htfniphrey Davy and other chemists .have found, by aoalyeis that ashes contain many substances which, contribute to yege- j table life, such as sulpbate of potash and Jimo, various compounds of acids and mine- | rals,carbonatoofHmo, alumina, and silica, has made some interesting experiments. In tho autumn he'filled threei flower- pots witli boal- t ashes, without any admixture with any other substauce; in the one pot he^sowed wheat, in the other s oats, ond in the thud strawberry seeds. The pots were then placed in a garden bed, and left to thornselves. . In the month of Maroh the plants were^j&""a>ery::thirinag;coaditionj and in April were luxuriant. '1 he wheat and oata ripened perfectly, tho grains l cmg largo and heavy,l and: the1 straw, in :the case of the - wheat,- 55in., and that of the oats, 43in. high. The Btrawberry plants continued to ilourish until October, when it was necessary to* trans-' plant them ; and after being planted out on tho open ground they succeeded so well that the writer says they surpassed all other seedlings. The experiment is a& interesting one."-.-, ,- /.' ~ -..." ' ;••'•"•• >■ '"!,