Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1858-05-13
Agrnnltnrd.
The Application of Lime

Inc AppllcailOn OIL Llilio.
In the application of this very valuable
fertilizer, SO as to produce any good result
there seems to be a mystery. We have
known farmers to spend much time and
money for no good. and why! simply be-
cause they did not understand the nature of
tie agent they we're using. Lime is con-
tanned in large quantities in the Mineral, as
well as the Animal kingdom. If enters SO
lsrgsly in the composition of Animals and
Vegetables that indeed it has become a ques-
ton whether lime was not more a charact-
eristic of the Animal and Vegetable world
than OF the mineral. But this theory will
not bear investigation, plausible as it may
seem. Yet there is 10 que ,tioning the fact
that it is one OF the essential elements in
the organic kingdom. In either Lime only
exists in combination. As a fertilizer, We
wish to consider it now. That it is a very
important agent is evident from the fact that
it enters largely into the composition OF all
plants, and is %essenta:. to their youth, and
more especially to the maturity of grain
But all plants do not contain lime in the
same proportions, and the same plants do
not always contain the same quantity, for
the simple reason that it is not always to
be had. Of the grains raised in this sec
tion of country Wheat and Corn are more
directly benefited by itthan any other
In wheat its effect is to stiffen the straw,
ripen the wheat early and bring the grain
to more perfect maturity. The experience
of farmers will corroborate this fact. Who
ever had wheat to fall down and rot, rust,
shriyel, or be eaten by the weavel, on lime
stone ground! That some of these might
bcfall a crop Of wheat under certain circum-
stances is not impossible, but il is the ex-
ception, and not the general rule. In corn
green foliage, sturdy stalk, large fully ma
tured corn, and early ripening. Different
kinds of land require more or less lime to
suit the demand. While sandy and loamy
oils require about ~one-hundred bushels per
acre, a clay soil will bear one-bundred and
fifty bushels. This should be put near the
surface and better covered that on top. The
best plan is to harrow it in while preparing
the ground. To know when and where 10
apply, it is necessary to understand the ma
ture of its. action. Is a fertilizer it is good
and important, yet 1t is more important as a
stimulous. Ii lime is applied year after
year without manure or any vegetable sub
stance being added, NE would soon realize
the ruth OF the old German adage, that
much lime and no manure,
Make both farm and iarlner poor"
Lime decomposes and dissolves mineral sub
the whole for The use of the growing plants.
1t should not be applied more than once in
four or FIVE years, in any considerable
quantity. Ii should never be put on wet
swsmpy ground, and should be applied with
sparing hand on very dry, where the grass
is usually burned out by the summer sun
Yet with all these cautions it shonlc De ap-
piled much more than it is. Farmers must
begin to awake to tie necessities of the
times, and by such agencies as lime in
creace the product of the land, else they
ment on a small scale would convince any
one of the utility Of lime as a fertilizer.