American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1867-01-16
Farmers Department.
Patent Ofhce Report, iooo'
CALCAREOUS MANURES.
BI-CARBoNATE OF LINE.
(Continued.)

7)Iicdtton to the SOlt-lne appiicaIiou Vi
burned lime to the soil is of high antlq
uity, and its utility is such as has been
recognized in almost. every country. in
which agriculture has obtained much
eminence and certainly it has been more
largely and extensively used as a fertili.
ger from very remote period than any
other mineral substance that has ever
been made available in practicable hus>
bandry. Cato describes with much min
uteness the best means of preparing it ;
and Pliny attests the use of Stacked lime
by the Roman cullivators as dressing
for the soil in which fruittrees were
grown. 1t was also applied with equal
success by the Arabs in Spain. Hence
it may be inferred that what has been
good in all ages past is good at the pres
ent time.
When lime is applied to the soil, it is
believed by some that it acts in two ways
--one, as. a Stimulont that promotes veg
citation by causing the soil with which it
is mixed to exert itself, and the other, in
promoting the growth oftrees and. plants
by enriching the land as "a, manure, and
adding to the quantity of vegetable food.
BY others, it is looked upon in a chenai>
cal and medicinal poiLt of view, acting
as an Alternative, n corrector, DISCOVER,
or decomposer-a disengager of Ger
tain parts OF the animal, vegetable and
mineral substances contained in the soil,
and as a retainer and combiner with
Others, but not as a'substance, like dung
OF decayed organic matter, fit for the i'm
mediate use and nourishment of plants,
except in small proportions. 1t also pro-
duces mechanical alteration in the soil,
which is simply and easily understood,
and is the cause of series Of chemical
changes that are really obscure, and are
aA yet susceptible of only partial expla-
nation. In the fnely-divided state of
quicklime or slaked lime, or of soft and
crumbling chalk, it stiffens very loose
soils and opens the sitter clays while in
the form of limestone gravel or of SHELF
sand, it may be employed either for open
ing clayey soil or giving body and firm
ness to boggy land. Thus, it proves very
useful in tenacious, heavy, clayey soil,
while it may be dispensed with in light
ones, as scarcely, if at all, affecting them.
The purposes served by lime as
chemical constituent of the soil. are at
least of four distinct kinds, namely =
First, it supplies kind of inorganic food
which appears to be necessary to the
healthy growth of all cultivated plants
Secondly, it neutralizos acid substances,
which are naturally formed in the soil,
and decomposes or renders harmless 9th.
or noxous compounds, that are not uufre
quently within reach of the roots of
plants. Thirdly, it changes the inert
vegetable matter in tho soil so as gradu-
allyto render it useful to vegetation
Fourthly, it causes, facilitates, or enables
other ufeful compounds, both organic
and inorganic, to be produced in the soil,
or so promotes. the decomposition of ex>
isting compounds as to prepare them
more speedily for entering into the cir
culation of plants. +.
Burned or quicklime is of an alkaline
or basic nature like potash and soda
Bodies of this kind form the chemical
opposites to those of an acid nature that
is, they deprive them of their sour taste,
and their acid properties and actions, in
general, when they combine with them,
while on their own side, they give up
basic properties. For instance, from the
most corrosive hydro-chloric acid, and
the most csustic soap>boiler's lye arises
q compound which no longer tastes sharp
or caustic, but only mildly saline, names
ly, common table salt. Their mutual re,
signation and delivering up oftheir char
asteristic properties, which occurs in all
cases where an alkaline base meets. with
an aoid, is called naturalization. and new
produce arising from the two is termed a
sab. 14 - e-~> .7vy
A good soil, in state of readiness for
culture, must not possess any aid prop
critics. All the cultivated plants grow
less freely and less vigorously in soils
containing acids, than in such as are
weakly basic, or even neutral, aud their
growth becomes inferior in proportion as
The quantity Of acid in the soil increas,
es. The production of acids takes place
in every soil; for the humus, which orig>
mates both from the remains of plants
and refuse remaining in the ground, and
from stable manure, is Of an acid nature;
the soil, however, usually contains in its
mineral constituents SO many basis, (lime;
magnesia, potash, and soda,) while the
nitrogen of the stable-dung produces an
other, (ammonia,1 that these suffice In