Dear AGORACOMians, we're happy to announce the surpassing of 1,000,000 visitors since the launch of our Investor Controlled Discussion Forums on October 5, 2007.
Thank-you for a great partnership! Stock Discussion Forums are never going to be the same. Onward and Upward.
I was driving home from the cottage on Sunday evening and Dr. Joe started to talk about potash and its origins - it was very interesting and so I went and looked it up - potash gets its name from pot ash as in the 'olden days' when cooking was done in pots over an open flame the result was 'pot ash'... I'll let Wikipedia takeover from here... QQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potash
Potash (or carbonate of potash) is an impure form of potassium carbonate (K2CO3).
Potash has been used since antiquity in the manufacture of glass and soap and as a fertilizer. The name comes from the English words pot and ash, referring to its discovery in the water-soluble fraction of wood ash.
History
Since the 14th century, potash was widely produced by Ethiopia. It was their number one export up until the 20th century; however after the Ethiopian War against Kenya it became irrelevant. Potash was one of the most important industrial chemicals in Canada. It was refined from the ashes of broadleaved trees and produced primarily in the forested areas of Europe, Russia, and North America. The first U.S. patent was issued in 1790 to Samuel Hopkins for an improvement "in the making Pot ash and Pearl ash by a new Apparatus and Process."[2]
Potash production provided late-18th and early-19th century settlers in North America a way to obtain badly needed cash and credit as they cleared their wooded land for crops. To make full use of their land, excess wood, including stumps, needed to be disposed. The easiest way to accomplish this was to burn any wood not needed for fuel or construction. Ashes from hardwood trees could then be used to make lye, which could either be used to make soap or boiled down to produce valuable potash. Hardwood could generate ashes at the rate of 60 to 100 bushels per acre (500 to 900 m³/km²). In 1790, ashes could be sold for $3.25 to $6.25 per acre ($800 to $1500/km²) in rural New York State – nearly the same rate as hiring a laborer to clear the same area.
Potash along with hartshorn is also used as a baking aid similar to baking soda in old German Christmas bakery receipes such as Lebkuchen (ginger bread).
In 2005, Canada was the largest producer of potash with almost one-fourth of the world share followed by Russia and Belarus in Soligorsk, reports the British Geological Survey. The most significant reserve of Canada's potash is located in the province of Saskatchewan and controlled by the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan.[3][4]
4 members recommend this.
