Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1852-07-14


pares them to be acted upon by the atmos-
phere; while on the other hand, upon light
soils it acts equally beneficial, in increasing
their tenacity, improves their power ot re-
ten,ion, and may prevent IN measure, The
loss Of nuriiive manures by exhalatlon.-
Lime tends TO convert the inert vegetable
matter which remains in the land, into food;
and thus performs the office of a solvent OF
inert vegetable matter into nutritious food
for the growth of plants-it is the agent to
decompose and feed the land with such We
getable matter as would otherwise remain
undecomposed, and in this manner may be
regarded as an essential element of the soil
The mode of applying Lime have
now been using lime for some eight or ten
years, and had not been able TO procure 1t
for my land, should long since have found
home in our s'western wilds," for | am
certain could have never improved them
without, the use of lime or other calcareous
ear.hs for stable and putrescent manures
did not after one or two crops exhibit any
very apparent effect. The mode | have a.
dop,ed in applying lime, has been made
easy, and never inierleres with my other
farming operations. So soon as have fin
ished nv crop. say about 10Th or 18th Of
July, order my lime from Baltimore, and
commence checking off my land with stakes
twenty-one fee, long. check the field en-
,rely over each way, each check contains
| fort, mine square yards; in the middle of
the square scrape small space sufficient
| lv large to hold half bushel of lime, which
is deposited from The wagon and the hands
90 on Immediately and spread il, the square
being perfectly visible; the hands can in
this manner apply it over The whole space
with grea. accuracy. The application is
within fraction of fifty bushels of lime to
the acre. as each check contains 49 square
yards, and if we allow 1900 square yards
TO make an acre, j. would be exactly fifty
bushels to The acre but i. is sufficiently
near for all practical purposes. ] consider
i. much more beneficial to apply it.over the
grass, than upon land after it is ploughed;
would advise in all cases 10 spread it up
on The surface and if the farmer can spare
the capitol as long, lha, j, should be applied
| Two or three years before ii is broken up.
My reason for TINS Supplying lime, is, that
it is not only more convenient, and can be
more accurately done, bu, ,hs. i. more tho
roughly mixes with the soil by the rains
and frosts of winter. ] have, however, de-
rived very grea. and permanent benefit from
applying it in the summer and breaking 1t
up the following spring-ffiv bushels is
good application for the first dressing, un-
less the land should be exceedingly rich,
when it would bear much larger quantity.
My mode is TO apply fifty bushels the
frs, application, and 10 follow it with Sc
cond application of fifty bushels more when
the land again comes into regular cultva-
tion. From all the agricultural information
have upon the lasting benefit of lime up
on land, is lha, one hundred bushels to the
acre is sufficient quantity for almos. all
land, and that its fertility can be brought to
any extent Of improvement, provided it is
followed by other agents and manures its
effects will last from fifteen to twenty years,
and no other application be needed Tor that
space Of time. Ii would be irrevelant and
out Of place for me here TO impress the i'm
por'snce of draining and deep ploughng in
conjunction with any and all manures, as
essential in the permanent improvement Of
all worn out lands-le, him who expects to
reap crop upon wet or badly ploughed
land by the mere application of lime, or any
other manure, be at once undeceived.
The necessity Of fozloacing lime acitA oth-
er agents and assistants in improving soils.
Lime being an agent in the soil, it is neces-
sary that it should be followed by such
other manures as the land may stand in
need of, as a soil may abound with lime,
and other properties for production not be-
ing present, il would not of course supply
them. As lime combines with inert veget-
able matter in the soil, and converts it into
food for plants, how necessary it is TO fol-
low our application of lime with the grasses?
and above all place Cloyer, which in con-
Junction with lime ! have never yet seen
fail to produce fine crop, and upon which
plaster acts benefcially. have applied
plaster in small quantities, yet ] have re-
ceived but little apparent benefit, unless ap-
j piled to clover-nor have been successful
in raising clover unless preceded by an ap-
plcalion of lime and in conjunction with
lime it is great renovator. Nv preference
has long been given to clover not only for
the purposes of food for stock, bu. the best
of all the grasses for the improvement, of the
SOIL In the words of a distinguished far
mer, speaking Of the action Of clover upon
, land, he says, "under the dense shade of
!. its foliage and in the moisture thus preserv-
!. ed at The surface of the soil, some subtle
process seems to be conducted, some na,u-
raj chemistry or agricultural alchemy, which
we do no, thoroughly understand, but which
ensures fer,li.y;" we know however that
clover has deep roots and draws some of
it's nutriment from the depths Of the soil be-
low the plough's range; and ,ha. il ex-