products, and potash became a valued export for the American

colonists.

Pearlash (Pure Ash) was another matter, made by manufacturers

using kilns that burned off all impurities, they were left with

pure sodium hydroxide. There was a global demand for the New

World product.

By the 1770′s England was so deforested due to

industrialization, they couldn’t make soda for soap making

without imports. Pearlash, or pure potash, was a product

England needed so badly it restricted the colony’s export of

all New World Pearlash to English buyers.

Potash-making became a major industry in British North America.

Great Britain was always the most important market. The

American potash industry followed the woodsman’s ax across the

country. After about 1820, New York replaced New England as the

most important source; by 1840 the center was in Ohio. Potash

production was always a by-product industry, following from the

need to clear land for agriculture.

By 1850, potash had gained popularity as a fertilizer, but

forests available for indiscriminate burning were becoming ever

scarcer