xt7msb3wtd7m https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7msb3wtd7m/data/mets.xml Peter, Robert, 1805-1894. 18841877 books b97-22-37599428 English Yeoman Press, : [Frankfort : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Hemp Kentucky. Buckwheat Kentucky. Chemical examination of the ashes of the hemp and buckwheat plants : with remarks on its bearing on hemp culture in Kentucky / by Robert Peter. text Chemical examination of the ashes of the hemp and buckwheat plants : with remarks on its bearing on hemp culture in Kentucky / by Robert Peter. 1884 2002 true xt7msb3wtd7m section xt7msb3wtd7m GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY. N. S. SHALER, DIRECTOR. CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF THE ASHES OF THE HEMP AND BUCKWHEAT PLANTS, WITH REMARKS ON ITS BEARING ON HEMP CULTURE IN KENTUCKY. BY ROBERT PETER, M. D., ETC., ETC., CHEMIST TO THE SURVEY. 439 This page in the original text is blank. CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF THE ASHES OF THE HEMP AND BUCKWHEAT PLANTS, &c. The hemp crop is of considerable importance in Kentucky agriculture, more especially in the richer portion, called the Blue Grass region, where the soil has been formed by the dis- integration of the fissile layers of the lower Silurian lime- stone-rich in the mineral elements of plant nourishment. According to the State Auditor's report, the gross amount of hemp fibre produced in our State was 18,981,819 pounds in i872, and 21.375,306 poUiiids in the more productive, moist season of 1873. Of this latter quantity seventeen counties, situated wholly or in part in the Blue Grass region, produced 21,194,445 pounds, and the five counties of Bourbon. fIayette, Jessanmline, Scott, and \W'oodford produced 1 7,95 1 ,350 pounds. Masons County, tile next in this indcLstry, leaving also raised S28, oo pounds. It is, therefore, evidently a crop which is believed to be profitable only on1 our richest lands. The soil which best suits it is the rich, pervious, and well-drained loanm w'ell charged with humuzis or the dark mould resulting from veg- etable decomposition, such as results from the completely decomposed sod of recently cleared woodland pastures, or blue grass or clover ground, well plowed and made thorough- ly fine alldl uniform in texture. Such land, in a favorable season. has been known to produce as much as 1,200 pounds of hemp to the acre, and it will yield an average of about 8oo pounds for ten to fifteen years in succession, if properly man- aged, in ordinary seasons. As the price of hemp rarely falls below one hundred dollars per ton of 2,240 pounds, and this crop usually brings in cash, the great value of this industry is evident. VOL. I.-CHEM. 29. 441 CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF THE ASHES OF The hemp plant, under favorable conditions, is of most rank and luxuriant growth, attaining on our rich lands a height of ten to fourteen feet in favorable seasons, even when sown so thick, as is the practice, that it is closely crowded, and so com- pletely covers the ground that not a weed can grow amongst it. It therefore requires a soil which can readily and quickly furnish to it the mineral elements necessary to its rank and rapid development, and at the same time furnish the large supply of moisture it requires without losing that highly porous condition and absorbing power which invites the pen- etration of the gases and vapors of the atmosphere, on which this plant is so greatly dependent for nourishment and growth. The well-drained loam of this Blue Grass region, which is charged with black vegetable mould or humus, offers these con- ditions; the humus not only having great power of absorption, but containing in a soluble and available state the mineral elements of plant nourishment, and, moreover, acting as a sol- vent for those which are contained in the earthy constituents of the soil itself. We can therefore readily understand why the hemp plant thrives upOtI such land; but why so luxuriant a growth can be maintained on the same surface for ten to fifteen years in succession, without any material exhaustion of the soil, is another question. The observing hemp farmer has long since arrived at a cor- rect conclusion in this respect. He saw that while this most luxuriant plant produced an immense green crop, alicl required the richest soil to supply its rapid demand for nourishment during its short season of growth (of four months only), yet all its leaves and other green tissues, together wvithi all that is removed from it in the process of dew-rotting, in the ordinary mode of hemp culture, are restored to the soil which produced it. and nothing is sold and carried off from the land but the cleaned hemp fibre, which, if well cleaned, contains very little but atmospheric elements, the removal of which can therefore cause but very little deterioration of the soil. Moreover, during a great part of the year the ground is more or less shaded and protected, first by the growing plant, 442 4 THE HEMP ANDI) B1UCKWH-EAT PLANTS, &C. then by the roots left in the ground after cutting, which some- what diminish the washing action of rains and improve it in their gradual decay, as do also the leaves which fall and the hemp when spread on the ground to dry, after being cut, and lastly, when it is spread out upon it in the winter process of dew-rotting. as it is called, during which all the readily decom- posable parts of the plant are washed out and decomposed by the rains and dews and the action of the air; enriching the surface soil beneath. Managed in this way, and commencing with suitable rich land, the scientific observer understands, that although the growing plants may temporarily draw heavily on the soil for the mineral (earthy) ingredients necessary to their growth, amongst the most important of which are potash and the earthy phosphates, yet in the subsequent processes, the most of these are returned to the ground again in the decay of the leaves and other green parts, and in the soluble and decom- posable matters which are leached out of the stems in the pro- cess of rotting; and that any small loss of these from the arable surface which may occur from the sale of the hemp fibre may be more than compensated by the action of the tap-roots in bringing them tip from the lower strata of the ground. He understands further, that all the mineral ele- ments thus restored, being left in organic combination in what is termed the humus or vegetable mould which results from this decay, are in a very soluble condition, and most available for the quick nourishment of the subsequent crop. If the hemp plant, instead of being dew-rotted on the roTUnd on which it had been growvn, is entirely removed from it and submitted to the process of wvater-rotting, the culture becomes eminently exhausting to the landl; mainly because so much of the elements of fertility is necessarily carried off in the water used. This was proved many years ago in rela- tion to the flax crop of Ireland, in the chemical analyses of the water in which the flax had been steeped, and of the plant and the lint, by Dr. Kane; and experience to a certain extent in this region, in the water-rotting of hemp, has given the 443 5 CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF THE ASHES OF same result. It is, perhaps, fortunate for our farmers, there- fore, that this process, although several times proposed to them, has never been received with much favor. The foregoing facts being of common experience, the writer desired, by the chemical examination of the mineral or earthy constituents of the hemp plant, as given in the as/h in different periods and conditions of its growth, in different parts of the plant, and the various stages of its preparation, to study more fully the relations of this crop to the soil, and to understand, if possible, the true reasons why it is not an exhausting pro- duct when properly managed, as well as to learn the best con- ditions for its successful culture. The first step in this investigation is to ascertain the aver- age composition of the mineral ingredients of the entire hemp plant as given by the chemical analysis of its ashes; and as the works accessible to the writer give but very limited inform- ation on the subject, he procured from his owvn farm, and sub- mitted to this analysis, five different samples, produced in two different seasons, grown under different conditions, and col- lected in different stages of their growth. The ashes of these, obtained by careful incineration at a moderate heat, were analyzed by the approved processes several compara- tive analyses of the same ash having been mnadle to secure greater accuracy-and the results are tabulated below in com- parison with the average of two hemp-ash analyses published in 1865 by Professor Emil Wolff, of the Royal Academy of Agriculture, at Hohenheim, Wirtemberg, which are repub- lished in the Appendix, page 378, of "How Crops Grow," by S. W. Johnson. The samples examined may be described as follows: Samzple 4. Entire hemp plants, including roots, leaves, &c.; collected on September 4th, 1874, when fully mature and ready for cutting; grown on somewhat elevated, very rich ground, the second year only from the broken up blue grass sod of woodland pasture, which had not been previously cleared or cultivated within the memory of the present race, 444 6 THE HEMP AND BUCKWHEAT PLANTS, &C. but which had been the site of a large circular earth-work by the ancient mound-builders, and which seemed to have been enriched by a long residence upon it of these prehistoric people. The sample, notwithstanding the great fertility of the land, was very small, in consequence of a continued droughit which prevailed during the season of its growth, it not being more than six to seven feet in height. SamAple B. Mature hemp plants, taken as it is usually cut, the roots and a small portion of the stems being left in the ground, and having only the top leaves, the others having fallen; col- lected September, 1873; grown on the field described above in a very, moist and favorable season, so that it was very tall and large stemmed. The samples were about twelve feet high. Some hemp plants this year attained a height of four- teen feet. Sample C. Six hemp plants entire, leaves, roots, and all; collected, before full maturity, on July 27th, 1874, from the -same rich field, in the verys dry scason. The plants were about six feet high, and were in full leaf and in flower. SammpAe D. Entire hemp plants, including roots, leaves, and immature seeds; grown on the experimental field selected by my son. Benj. D. Peter,t for practical experiments in hemp culture. This ground had been long in cultivation-at least fifty years. This sample was grown on lot 3, to which about 200 pounds of plaster had been applied early in the growing season. The sample was collected on September 8th, 1874. The plants were quite small, not more than from five to six feet high, in consequence of the continued drought of this season and the condition of the land. Sample E. Similar to sample D; grown on the neighboring lot 4, of this experimental field, under similar conditions, ex- cept that no plastcr or any other fertilizer was applied to this lot. A part of this lot 4, however, where a fence row formerly stood, happened to be somewhat richer than any part of this Fully described in Collins' History of Kentucky. tSee Prof. N. S. Shaler's Report. 445 7 CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF THE ASHES OF or the plastered lot, as shown by the greater luxuriance of the- growth of the hemp in that part. F. The average of the analyses of the ashes of two entire hemp plants as given by Prof. Emil Wolff, as above stated. In this table, as well as in the following ones, the carbonic acid of the ash is excluded in the calculations, for more com- plete comparison of the proportions of the essential mineral ingredients of the ash. TABLE I. A. OF THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE ASH OF THE ENTIRE HEMP PLANT, CALCULATED IN loo PARTS OF THE ASH, WITH EXCLUSION OF CARBONIC ACID. A. B. C. D. E. F. Lime. 38.482 31.299 48.689 50.6 3 45.263 43.4 Magnesia... . .. 8.558 6.017 6.445 8.576 11.225 9.6. Potash.. .. .. . .. .. . 37.475 43.739 29.11823.519 23.933 18.3 Soda.. .. .. . .378 1.438 1.280 .472 . 9 3.2 Phosphoric acid..... .. . 8.667 14.164 10.38411.721 13.233 i l.6 Sulphuric acid.... .. .. . 2.272 I.622 .940 1.472 1.445 2.8 Chlorine... . .984 .522 .640 .301 .273 2.5 Silica..... .. . .. .. . 3.181 1.199 2-749 3.316 3.342 7.6 Per cent. of earthy phosphates . . 18. i86 29.773 21.692 28.460 27.427 . Per cent. of ash to the air-dried plants, carbonic acid excluded. 4.223 2.563 5-055 4.126 4.203 4.6. Per centage of ash, carbonic acid included...... . .. .. 5.569 3.357 6.754 5.288 5 346 . This table shows some notable differences in the ash pro- portions and composition. For example, sample B, grown in the moist season, as compared with the others grown during the drought, gave a smaller ash per centage to the dried plants; its ash contains smaller proportions of lime. magnesia, and silica, and larger proportions of potash, soda, and phos- phoric acid. The immature sample C, gathered in July, as compared with the other samples (A, D, and E) of the same dry season, which were gathered in September, shows a larger per cent- age of ash to the dried plants. 446 8 THE HEMP AND BUCKWHEAT PLANTS, &C. The samples D and E, grown on the old land, while they give about the samne average of ash to the dried plants, show a smaller proportion of potash. Not much importance is attached to the proportion of silica, which is evidently stated much too high in the analyses quoted by Wolff. The hemp plant, being somewhat viscid on its ex- terior, always has more or less fine silicious dust adhering to, it, derived from the soil, which cannot be removed by wash- ing the plants. Thi' the writer attempted to exclude, in his analyses, by dissolving the ash in diluted acid (nitric or chloro- hydric), and excluding all that remained undissolved as most probably fine earth accidentally adhering to the plant. This. may, in some cases, be a slight cause of error, but probably not so great as the retention and analysis of the adhering fine dirt with the plant ash, which seems to have been done in the analyses quoted by Wolff. For the same reason the alumina and iron oxide were also excluded. The real significance of these differences of proportion and composition of these ashes can better be seen where the com- parison is made with the proportions of the dried plants them- selves to the several ingredients of the ash, as given in the following table: TABLE 1. B. OF THE QUANTITIES OF THE ASH INGREDIENTS IN 100 PARTS OF THE AIR-DRIED HEMP PLANTS, CARBONIC ACID EXCLUDED. A. B. C. D. E. F. I.ime... .. . .. .1.. .. i.624 0.802 2.461 2.10 1.968 1.74. Magnesia... . .. .. .361 .154 .312 .356 .475 -30 Potash...... .. . . .... 1.582 1.121 1.472 .977 1.012 .74 Soda. . . . ...... . .. oi6 .037 . o65 .019 a trace. . E Phosphoric acid.... .. .366 . ;63 .525 .488 .560 .47 Sulphuric acid .. 9o6 .042 .047 .o6i .06z . ao Chlorine. ..... . .. .. 041 .013 .022 .012 .011 .10 Silica..... . .. .. . .. 134 .031 .139 .135 .141 .30 Per cent. of earthy phosphates . . .768 .763 1.103 1 . 182 1.150 . Percent.of ashtodriedplants. . 4.223 2 563 5.055' 4.126 4.203 4.-a 0 See Wolff's tables, " How Crops Grow," page 383. Calmulated to the dried plants. 9 CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF THE ASHES OF This table shows, that while the smallest proportion of min- eral or ash ingredients, to the dried plants, was given in the season when the hemp had a luxuriant growth because of the regular supply of moisture, the difference was occasioned mainly by the greater quantities of lime, magnesia, and silica in the plants of the dry season, and not by any material variations in the proportions of the alkalies or phosphoric acid. It is well known that the external tissues of all growing plants become more or less charged with earthy salts, espe- cially carbonates of lime and magnesia with some phosphates, which have been carried from the soil to their surfaces in solu- tion in water containing carbonic acid (which is in all the water of the soil) and left there in a form insoluble in water upon the escape of that acid and the evaporation of the water which brought them up. As all the moisture of the fertile earth contains this solution, which is drawn up and evaporated from the general surfaces of the plants exposed to the air, it can readily be seen, that because of the greater evaporation and the more concentrated nature of the soil solution, in the dry season, there must necessarily be a larger accumulation of this surface deposit in the dry than in the moist or wet season, when evaporation is measurably checked. For the same reason the ash per centage of the leaves and bark of plants is greater than that of the interior parts, and that of the leaves of deciduous plants greater than that of the leaves of evergreens, which give off less water by evaporation. The effect of this evaporation has very justly been com- pared to the deposit of the limestone crust in the steam- boiler and the formation of stalactites in caves; and this irregular increase of the ash per centage causes many appa- rent discrepancies in the mineral ingredients of plants, and increases the difficulties in the chemical study of plant nourish- ment; for while it is generally admitted as fully demonstrated. that certain mineral ingredients, to be found in the ashes of all vegetables, are essentially necessary to their growth, it must be acknowledged that some or some portion of these ingredi- 448 gO THE HEMP AND BUCKWIIEAT PLANTS, &C. ents are of no more significance than the incrustation in the steam-boiler; being mere accidental deposits on the surface, the result of the escape and evaporation of the agents, water and carbonic acid, which held them in solution in the sap of the plants and in the wvater of the soil. In the same manner may wve explain the influence of a dry season in increasing the fertility of the surface of the soil; the soil solution, on the evaporation of the water, leaving its dissolved salts and other ingredients upon the surface; so that seasons of long drought are usually followed by others of great productiveness when there is sufficient moisture. The larger ash per centage of sample C is mainly due to this cause; the leaves not having fallen, which yield a very large proportion of ash. The ashes of samples D and E, grown on the old land in the very dry season, while not differing much in their general weight-proportion to the dried plants, show more lime and less alkalies than that of the hemp grown on the richer land. For some reason not immediately apparent. perhaps because of a previous buckwheat crop, they gave rather more than the average quantity of earthy phosphates. In the usual mode of management of the hemp crop the leaves mostly fall on the ground on which it is grown. A large proportion of them drop before the hemp is cut, more fall when it is spread on the ground to Ir), after cutting, and when it is taken up to be stacked. It would be well, doubt- less, to beat off, in this process, all the leaves that can thus be separated. so that they may be more regularly distributed over the soil than if thrashed off when stacking it. It is also the general practice now to cut the hemp as nearly as possible to the surface of the ground, and leave the roots, with a few inches of the stem attached, to rot in the soil. In order to ascertain the relative fertilizing influence of the leaves and roots, three hemp plants were collected, July 25th, i864, in (lze dry) season, from the rich field above described. These, one male and' two female plants, were about six to 449 I I CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF THE ASHES OF seven feet high. The leaves, stems, and roots, carefully sep-- arated and thoroughly air-dried, weighed as follows: Thie keaves weighed 23.916 grammes, equal to about 30. per cent. of the whole plant. The roots'' 7.433 9.3 The sterns' 48.430 o' 60.7 These were separately incinerated and their ashes analyzed, with the following results: TABLE II. OF THE RELATIVE ASH INGREDIENTS OF THE LEAVES, ROOTS,. AND STEMS OF THE HEMP, CARBONIC ACID EXCLUDED. THE LEAVES. THE STEMS. THE ROOTS. In0 p'ls In 1oo pts In 100 pL, In 1to p'Ls Inn ao LS In C- p'ts of ash. of drie:d of ash, of dried of dried leaves slems. room. Lime............. . 48.819 4.992 23.371 0.949 O0.368 0.71. Magnesia.. .. .. , 5.726 . 585 S. 80, .194 8.297 .291 Potash.. 27.955 2.858 )49 599 i.659 52.233 X.8-9 Soda......4.. . .. ..659.2.236 .024 Phosphoric acid.... .. . . 9.264 .947 13. 374 .447 15.164 .531 Sulphuric acid... .. .. . . 2.209 .226 1.215 .040 1.344 .047 Chlorine. ..... .. .. . .. 171 .017 .576 .019 .405 .014 Silica.... ... .. .. . . 5.6:o .575 1.o62 .035 2.189 .077 Percent. of phosphate-, 19.160 1.959 28.158 0.942 26.885 0.949 Per cent. of ash....... .. .. . . 110.225 - -3.346 - - - 3.502- By examination of the above table it is to be seen, that the leaves of the flowering hemp contain more of the essential. mineral ingredients of the soil than all the other parts of the plant; constituting, as they do, about 30 per cent. of the whole plant in the air-dried state, and yielding 10.225 per cent. of their weight of ash, the carbonic acid being excluded; while- the stems and roots, which together form the remaining 70 per cent. of the weight of the plant, give an average of less than 3.5 per cent. of ash. Nor is this great excess of the ash proportion in the leaves due entirely to the influence of the greater evaporation which takes place on their surfaces, causing a deposit or incrustation of lime and magnesia salts and silica of the nature of stalag- mites; for we see that whilst the amount of silica in the leaves is nearly fourteen times greater than that in the stems, and 450 I 2 THE HEMP AND BUCKWHEAT PLANTS, &C. more than seven times greater than in the roots; the lime more than five times as great as that in the stems, and seven times more than in the roots; the mniaixesia three times more than that in the stems, and twice as much as that in the roots; the pho.op/worc acid and phosphiates and the a/kahi's are in nearly double proportion in the leaves also, and the sulphuric acid five times greater in them than in the stems, and about four times greater than in the roots. So that whilst the leaves, when in their fully matured state or when they naturally fall, may possibly contain scarcely any but the less soluble salts which may be left in their tissues on the evaporation of the carbonated water which held them in solution in the sap, they contain, when in the growing, active condition, like all other green herbage, a very large proportion of salts of potash. and of all the mineral elements of plant nourishment, and hence may greatly enrich the soil on which they decay. It is obviously to the interest of the hemp farmer, therefore, so to manage as to spread them as regularly as possible over his hemp ground. The dried hemp plants are allowed to remain in the stack until the cool season of early winter, when they are generally spread out evenly upon the same ground on which they had been grown, to undergo the process of dew-rotting. The hemp is permitted to remain on the ground until, by the action-. of the atmospheric waters and other agencies. it has become so far decomposed that all its soluble parts and soft tissues are removed and washed into the soil beneath or dissipated in the air, and the tough hemp fibre can be easily separated from the more woody portion of the stems. It is then taken up, "braked" out, and the clean merchantable hemp fibre sep- arated from the "hemp-herds," or "henmp shiives "-the broken fragments of the woody parts of the stems-which are usually burnt up by the hemp-brakers on the spots where they fall near their hemp-brakes. In order to study the changes which occur in the mineral constituents of the hemp during this process of dew-rotting, samples of dew-rotted hemp plants, ready for the brake, were 45' 1 3 CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF THE ASHES OF gathered, in December, from the two lots of the experimental field above mentioned, of the crop of the dry season of i874. These were thoroughly air-dried, incinerated, and their ash submitted to analysis, with the following results: TABLE Ill. OF THE ASH ANALYSES OF DEW-ROTrED HEMP PLANTS, CARBONIC ACID, &c., EXCLUDED. (D) SAMPLE FROM LOT 3. (e) SAMPLE PROM LOT 4. PLASTEMED. (SEE D.) NOT PLASTERED. 'SER M.) In loo parts of In part oft In tO parts of In loo pars of ash. dred hemp ash. dried hemp plants. plants. Lime .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 68.846 1.235 63.651 0.942 Magncsia. .. . .. . .. . .. .. 8-335 149 8-343 .124 Potash... .. .. . .. , 5.V716 102 5.682 .084 S&da.. . . .. . .. . ... . 429 .Co 8 . 760 .012 Phosphoric acid.13.979 .251 15 713 .233 Sulphuric acid..965 .017 1-552 .023 Chlorine.... . .. . .. . .. . .. .050 .O .042 .001 Silica... .. . . .. .. . . .. . . 1.680 .030 4.257 .o63 Pcr centage of earthy phosphates.27.144 .487 29.920 .443 Per cent. of ash to the dried rotted hemp.. .. ... 1-793 ..... 1.480 On comparing these results with those given in tables I. A. and I. B., in the columns D and E, where the results of the analyses of the ashes of this same growth of hemp are given in the unrolled state, it will be seen that a great diminution has taken place in the amount and proportions of the ash and its several ingredients. To exhibit this diminution of the ash ingredients, which takes place in the ordinary process of dew-rotting, we place the averages from table I. B. and the above table side by side in 452 .14 THE HEMP AND BUCKWHEAT PLANTS, &C. TABLE TV. COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE ASH OF THE UNROTTED AND THE DEW-ROT' ED HEMP PLANTS, CARBONIC ACID BEING EXCLUDED. Aved aeof D Averageof U) and E. Un- .nd E. IDew- Iroportions rcrnovcd Ly dew. rotted hemp rotted hemp rotting. plants. plants. Lime....... ...... . . . . 2.o0,6 1.o89 About one half. Magnesia... .. .. . .. . .. .. .415 .136 Nearly two thirds. Potash. .... ........ .. . 995 .C93 More than nine tenths. Soda . ....019 .010 About one half. Phosphoric acid . . .... . . . . . . 524 .242 Nlore than one half. Sulphuric acid. . ....................o6i .020 About two thirds. Chlorine. . .. . .. ... ..... .01 l. oo l Ten elevenths. Silica. ...... .. . .. . .. .. Nearlytaco thirds. Per cent. of earthy phosphates. x. i66 .465 More than onc half. Per cent. of ash to the dried plants . . . 4. i65 1.66 'More than one half. When we also take into consideration the fact that the dried hemp plants lose at least one third of their weight in the dew- rotting, we can judge how large a proportion of the essential mineral ingredients are restored to the soil in this process. The above table also shows us that the imore soluble ingre- dients, such as the alkalies, &c., are removed from the plants in the larger proportions. These analyses and comparisons enable us clearly to un- derstand why the culture of hemp, when judiciously managed, especially when it is spread out and dew-rotted on the same surface on which it was grown. is so little exhausting to the soiI, as compared with the method in which the water-rotting process is used. In order to ascertain how much of the essential elements of the soil are carried off in the merchantable product-the hemp fibre as ordinarily sold-analyses were made of some of this, both in the usual condition as it is to be found in our hemp factories, and after it had been well washed with water to remove from it as much of its adhering dirt and soluble matter as possible. Two samples of the "hemp-herds," or refuse woody por- tions of the stems, separated in the operation of braking, were also incinerated, in the air-dried state, and the ashes 453 I;5 16 CHEMICAL EXAM1INATION OF THE ASHES OF submitted to chemical analysis. The results are given in the following table: TABLE V. COMPARISON OF THE ASH INGREDIENTS OF DEWV-ROTED HEMP FIBRE AND HEMP HERDS, CARBONIC ACID EXCLUDED. 4E14P FiSIIE, UN- HEMP FIBRE, HEMP-HERDS, 1873. HEMP "H EtS, 1874. I W- A ,HEu . I WASHED. MOIST AS O LAS IVV SEASO, SEM. Limle M6gniia. . Poah... . Sools.a Phosphoric acid.... Sulphuric acid Chlorine . Silica . Per cent. of earthy phos- phame..... . In loo pt's In loo' p It of ash. of dried hemp . 59 960 0.984 8S. Il - l 41 7-3;' . I 21 .712 .012 13.852 .200 I.710 .-29 cv9' . 00 5.621 .X92 1: 31.567 .; i I. In top'ts In moop'ts In p' In soop'ts ID loop'ts In zoop'1ts of ash.of hemp.of a,of driedof ash,of dried herds. herds. 68.694 0.722 51.998 o.446 6z.992 0.676 622.2 o65 8.426 .072 8.966 .097 3.789 .040 19.615 .168 8.670 .093 .Sol .-08 .915 .-08 .754 .o.. 15,.335 .x6i 14.401 .124 12.215 .131 .487 .05 2.16 .017 2.138 .023 .048 .0.. a trace.a trace. a trac. .624 .049 2 629 .022 4.465 .048 29.486 .310 29 275 .251 24.807 .267 Per cent. Of ash to Lhe air- I dried material. 1.64 2 1.051 -.8 .076 The hemp fibre, which was analyzed in the ordinary un- washed condition, wvas obtained from a factory in Lexington. It was of the crop of 1874, dark colored, and containing, per- haps. more than the average quantity of dirt or fine soil adher- ing to it. Washing with cold water removed some but not all of this adhering dirt, as well as much of the soluble matters contained in it, reducing the per centage of the ashy residue more than one third. Had it been thoroughly cleaned and bleached the ash per centage would have been still more con- siderably reduced. All the nitrogenous matters, holding phos- phates in a comparativel) soluble condition, all the alkaline salts, wvould thus be dissolved out, and very little else than silica, with a small proportion of the earthy carbonates, would be left in the clean henip fibre; so that exhaustion of the soil from its production would be quite insignificant. Calculating on the data of the above tables, we find that an average crop of hemp of 8oo pounds to the acre removes from the soil only a little more than thirteen pounds of ash ingredients, or, when in the washed condition, less than eight pounds and a half, while it is well known that a crop of wheat of twenty bushels takes nearly twenty pounds in the grain 454 I- THE HEMP AND BUCKWVHEAT PLANTS, &C. alone; a crop of fifty bushels of corn removes more than thirty pounds in the grain alone, and a crop of tobacco of one thou- sand pounds, more than one hundred and seventy-six pounds. When we compare the relative proportions of the ingre- dients of these sev