On what do its fertilizing properties depend?
What use may be made of its offensive odor?
The refuse lime of gas works, where it can be cheaply obtained, may be advantageously used as a manure. It consists, chiefly, of various compounds of sulphur and lime. It should be composted with earth or refuse matter, so as to expose it to the action of air. It should never be used fresh from the gas house. In a few months the sulphur will have united with the oxygen of the air, and become sulphuric acid, which unites with the lime and makes sulphate of lime (plaster), which form it must assume, before it is of much value. Having been used to purify gas made from coal, it contains a small quantity of ammonia, which adds to its value. It is considered a profitable manure in England, at the price there paid for it (forty cents a cartload), and, if of good quality, it may be worth double that sum, especially for soils deficient in plaster, or for such crops as are much benefited by plaster. Its price must, of course, be regulated somewhat by the price of lime, which constitutes a large proportion of its fertilizing parts. The offensive odor of this compound renders it a good protection against many insects.
The refuse liquor of gas works contains enough ammonia to make it a valuable manure.
SOAPERS' LEY AND BLEACHERS' LEY.
What use may be made of the refuse ley of soap-makers and bleachers?
What peculiar qualities does soapers' ley possess?
The refuse ley of soap factories and bleaching establishments contains greater or less quantities of soluble silicates and alkalies (especially soda and potash), and is a good addition to the tank of the compost heap, or it may be used directly as a liquid application to the soil. The soapers' ley, especially, will be found a good manure for lands on which grain lodges.
Much of the benefit of this manure arises from the soluble silicates it contains, while its nitrogenous matter,[AJ] obtained from those parts of the fatty matters which cannot be converted into soap, and consequently remains in this solution, forms a valuable addition. Heaps of soil saturated with this liquid in autumn, and subjected to the freezings of winter, form an admirable manure for spring use. Mr. Crane, near Newark (N. J.), has long used a mixture of spent ley and stable manure, applied in the fall to trenches plowed in the soil, and has been most successful in obtaining large crops.