Middletown transcript., 1868-09-12
90ritulturat Department.
Gas-IIOusc Lime.

The agricultural papers are full of dis
cussions touching the value of gas-house
lime as fertilizer. One man tells us he
applied it in the spring and killed all his
crops, but that the following year he was
struck with the vastly improved appear
ance Of that very land which seemed to
have been ruined. He concluded, there
fore, that he had overdoscd his soil, and
the next time he applied it. took the win
ter for it, spread it out thinly ufzn the
surface, and allowed it to remain some
time before ploughins it in. The results
were satisfactory.
Now, the cause of this unfavorable ac-
ton of gas-house lime is very easy to dis
cover. Lime being used in gas houses to
absorb sulphur from gas before it passes
into the mains, is necessarily saturated
with that substance, as the eyes and nose
will soon inform any one. This sulphur
is not in a state of mixture, but of combi-
nation, and exists as sulphido of oalci-
um and sulphite of lime. Now, both
these are energetic poisons to growing
plants, destroying their vitality with great
rapidity and certainty. 1t is evident,
then, that its application in the fresh state
to growing crops will always be injurious.
When, however, this lime is allowed to
weather for some time, it undergoes a re-
markable change. These sulphides disap-
pear, having been converted by the oxy-
gen of the atmosphere into sulphate of
lime, or plaster Of Paris, not onl y not in
furious, but highly beneficial to vegota-
ton. There still remains, even after six
months exposure to the air, some caustic
hme-as much often as twenty-five per
cent,-but the injurious sulphur COM
pounds, if sufficient oxygen has been ad-
mitted, are destroyed. Applied in this
state, the lime from the gaS-house cannot
fail to prove highly beneficial to the soil.
Professor Voelcker, the eminent Eng
lish agricultural chemist, has recently
written upon this subject, and states the
following as the advantages to be expected
from its use
/. 1t improves the texture of stiff clay
soils by tightening them, and of light san
dy soils by giving them solidity.
2. 1t neutralizos the acidity of some
soils, and breaks up the organic matter of
soils which arc too rich in humus, making
them more fit for the sustenance of plants
3. 1t acts on the granite constituents of
soil, and sets free the alkalies, thereby
making the mineral clements of it availa-
BILE as food for the plant.
4. 1t supplies food for the plant in the
form of sulphate of lime, which is especial
ly useful to the 'eguminoso, (peas, beans,
clover, &c.)
Woathered gas lime, judiciously ap-
piled to a proper soil, Professor Voclcker
informs us, is most useful to many plants,
as clover, sainfoin, lucerne, peas, beans,
vetches and turnips, and is good fertili-
zer for permanent pasture, especially if
the land be deficient in lime. On natural
plants the best farm-yard manure often
produces but little improvement, until a
dressing of lime, mari, or gas-lime has
been applied to it; the latter, more par
ticularly, destroys the coarsor grasses and
fayors the growth Of more nutritious
herbage. 1t also destroys moss, heath,
feathered grass and other plants which
are characteristic of unhealthy land.
1t is therefore especially adapted for the
improvement of such land, and SO it is for
soil deficient in lime, and which causes
turnips to become warty and be affected
with disease called ''fngers and toes. -
For this it is complete remedy 1t may
be applied in quantities of one or two tons
an acre, and even more when the soil is
very heavy or very peaty. The best time
to apply it is in the fall, so that it can
thoroughly weather before spring and also
act upon the soil during the whole course
of the winter.
Unjust be remembered that the gas-lmo
of which we have been speaking, is that
which comes from the dry lime purifier
That from the acet lime purifiers should
never be applied to the soils. This is a
distinction which should be borne in mind
by all farmers who undertake to purchase
gas-house lime. The price of the English
gas-hoqso lime at the English factories, is
one shilling load, equivalent to % cents
gold, and 81 cents currency.
On account of their Importance we re-
peat the warnings We have given. In the
first place, the lime to be used in agricul-
ture must come from the dry lime purifier,
and in the second place, it should weather
at least six months before the growing
season, during which it is to be used.
These two precautions observed the farm