Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1836-12-23

know to exist IN many soils. which they IN
call sour. But the latter pur
pose vii! be answered as well by the car
Donate Of lime, which may be applied as it
exists IN mari or shells, or az it may be
prepared by grinding limestone. Cans'lc
lime is also dangerous in its application. for
it will corrode and destroy living vegeta
bes, and hasten the decomposition of the
vegetable matter of the soil to such a de.
gree as 10 iniure its fertility. Except up
on turf-bogs, and land loaded with timber
not wholly decomposed, quick or caustic
lime ought not TO be used but to burn
lime, and then BY shaking to reduce it to the
form Of fine powder, which is speedily car.
donated by exposure to the air, is more
ready, and generally a cheaper mode of OBJ
tanning the carbonate in convenient form
than TO grind limestone to powder III mills.
Yet for many OF the most valuable uses of
lime in agriculture, the latter method, if as
cheap, nC d answer rs well.
Lime slowly combines with the earth
silica, and produces compound very differ
cnt in character from either. 1t is this, to
cite a fact N proof of our statement, which
gives the hardness and solidity to ancient
mortar. The carbonate of lime will serve
to form this compounds; and thus, when it
has had tire to act upon sand, 1t renders
a sillcious soil more retentlve of moisture:
while, if applied to clay, by combining with
sllcious matter. it renders it more frable !;
and il is to the formation Of this compound
by slow degrees, that we are inclined to as.
cribe he valuable mechanical properties of
OF loamy soils, and the gradual amelioraton
produced by the use Of lime, mari, and
shells as a manure.
Besides silica, alumlna. and lime, an
earth called magnesia is likewise found in
some soils. 1t is also in the form of carbo-
nate. a frequent constituent of limestones.
The earth has many properties, in common
with lime; like lime it is capable of Deu.
lralizing acids and when deprived of car.
bonic acid by heat, corrodes vegetable sub.
stances. probably also hastcns putrefac
ton. and both it and its carbonate are ca.
pable of absorbing the gases let loose in
that natural process. 1t is however Of lit
lie interest in agriculture except as part
Of some of these limes,oncs which are uset
as manure. These ifapplied in large guam
titles, are sometimes very injurious to veg.
citation The reason of this is, that mag.
mes ia does not repass to the state of Carlo
nate Ms rapldlv a. lime, and therefore re,
,ains III corrosive quality long after the
limo aas again become mild by the union o
carbonic acid. In less quantities, however
the magnetism llmcslons may serve as
manure, but their application requires grea
caution. particularly when the quantity o
maga-si u lu,on6ls 10 % per cent.
All Of the simple substances we have men
toned. except. perhaps the last. either sep
nra'c or IN various states of combination
cxls, in plant>. The manner and charac
ter of the combination Is influenced by tbs
v'al action ntlbe plant, which causes then
to form compounds often in direct oppnsi
ton to the manner in which the ordlnat,
laws of chemistry would direct. 1t thus
happens that SO soon az the plant cease
to live these chemical laws being no long
er impelled, begin to exert their influence
and If it be in IN such state as will ADM
of the several elements acting readily upor
each other. decomposition more or les,
rapid, of the vegetable structure ensues
II is law of chemistry that its action i
always aided by bodies being in huic
state. and the action is often imposslbI,
when the bodies are perfectly free from
moisture. Hence the direct chemical &C
ton, and consequent decomposition toke
place with greater certainty and more ra
pdity in green, juicy, and succuleDt vege
tables, than upon those which have beef
/ deprived OF moisture either naturally o
qrtlfically. Thus, grass, if heaped up il
recent state, decomposes, and, if but par
tally dried, is heated, and may even taxi
! fire, by the chemcal action OF its elements
while, If dried by exposure to the sun an
air, and then laid up in a dry place in tn
! form Of hay, it is almost lndestructable.-
A moderate degree Of heat and access t
air are a $50 necessary to promote the chem
! ical action by which decomposition is eff
! fected. This decomposition Is often arten
ded with motion among the parts: and al
ways if the mass has liquid form, as il
the expressed juice ofvegetables, or in tn
sleeps employed by distlers and brewers
it goes in general terms by the name O
fermentation. When the vegetable matte
abonnds in starch, the first change is tn
conversion of this principle into sugar
Sugar, if thus formed, is next converter
into alcohol, as it is, lift previously existe
in the plant. The presence ofacohol give
the liquid in which it exists the charactc
of vinlous liquors, and if these are permit
ted to remain in turbid state, a farthe
fermentation converts them into vinee ar
and finally vinegar is farther decomposed
and the vegetable matter, giving out a
offensive smell, is said to purify. If III
substance BE- not an expressed Juice o
/ liquid steep, these several stages ifermen
tatIon ensue with rapldIty, may be goin,
on at the same time, and are sometimes s
speedy in their course that no other acto
but the purfactve fermentation can b
detected. Animal bodies are subject t
the same laws, and 90 through the sam
stages of fermentation, but the rapidit
with which they run into putreiactlon
even greater; still there are some cases
as in that of milk where the vnious stag
can be occasionally, and the ace,lc distinct
ly observed. Thus a vinlous liquor is pre-