Dear all, One contributor wrote: "Hearing "muriate of potash" and "sulphate of potash" strikes my ears the same way hearing "ain't" and "hain't" does now, too. They are all soooooo 19th century. Which is alright if you'd rather be living in the 19th century, I guess. I'm just a chemist of the 20th and 21st centuries... If you're having a scientific discussion, there is no question which terminology is correct. If you're having a literary discussion, that's a different matter." I agree fully that when talking "science", we all need to use a standardised terminology. Only, let's not forget that many of us are not scientists, we simply like to grow flowers and use the terms we know. One of the values of a discussion group such as this one is to help those amateur horticulturists among us with such things. This said at 63, I find it quaint to use words that are going out of business, in every day business of course, since they are part of our collective culture. J. Denys Bourque Saint-Jacques, NB CANADA