Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-07-06
LIME AS A MANURE.

The use of lime as manure is little I'M
derstood by those even who use it regular
ly on their farms. The New York World
says: sit is not, in fact, looked upon as
manure as farmers understand that term,
and some agricultural writers do not admit it
as properly classed among manures. But
if by the term manure we mean anything
applied to the land to restore the waste of
growing crops or to add fertility thereto,
then lime is certainly manure in the truest
sense. 1t enters largely into the sub
stance Of plants grown as crops. The
ashes Of clover, potato, turnip and carrot
stalks, the stalks and leaves of peas, fax
hemp, tobacco, and the leaves, wood and
bark of most trees, consist Of from one
third to one-haf of lime, while the ashes
of the straw and seeds of all our valu-
able grain crops contain from to 10 per cent
of it. Lime, then, is largely carried off
from CUR fields by the continued removal
Of our ordinary crops year after year, until
finally the soil becomes exhausted. Not
that it would be correct to say that no lime
is left in the soil, but what is left is not in
such condition as to become available as
food for plants. 1t is seen constantly in
practice that soil filed with fragments of
limestone becomes in need of dressing of
lime to restore its fertility, and the reason
becomes plain when we remember that
limestone is net lime, is not soluble in
water except to very limited extent, while
| lime is much more soluble. When this
inert limestone is burnt into lime and spread
upon the land, it becomes directly available
and shows marked and immediate effect.
Therefore we see in practice that soil be-
comes rapidly deprived of lime by the &c-
lions of crops in the same way that it is de-
prived Of carbon, nitrogen, potash, or phos-
phoric acid, and if all these substances are
manures, limeiis also manure. To test
thistheory by practice, it is only necessary
to observe the effects of a dressing of lime on
the soil and the growing crops. 1t has long
been known that leguminous plants as
clover, peas, beans, lucerne, ETC., will often
die out and refuse to grow, although the
soil has been heavily MANFRED with organ
ic matter, as vegetable or animal remains.
Under such circumstances lime has been
found to enable them TO grow. On soils
naturally producing coarse, wiry grasses,
unfit for pasture, lime is known TO bring in
a sweet, nutritious heritage, relished by
stock; and when we remember that one
fourth part of the weight of the skeleton OF
an animal is lime, it will readily be under
stood why the natural wants and instincts
of an animal induce it to choose that
food in which lime is contained in greater
abundance, and why such pasture is better
fitted for it. Indirectly, too, as well as in
this direct manner, lime has a valuable Of
fee to perform for the farmer. When land:
are rich in vegetable matter, it is often the
case that crops of oats, wheat and Other
grains, by reason of want of stiff
ness in the straw, are unable tc
retain their upright position, the croI
slodges" and the harvest is lost to a grea
extent. Lime has long been found re
medy for this weakness of the straw, which
is really occasioned not so much by want
lime as by want Of silica; the plant canno
appropriate enough of that substance t
supply its needs. The silica is insoluble
Lime acts on the insoluble silica and rem
ders it able to enter the circulation of The
plant and perform its Office. Again, soil
containing a large portion of vegetable
, matter, as swamp muck, decaying leaves
or straw, which as yet are not ready TO
) use by the plants, are drought up in
= stantly by lime. The undeeomposeC
: matter is acted upon rapidly by the lime
D becomes more soluble, enters into cir
!; culation with the juices of the plan
: and furnishes necessary sustenance. Lime
; is q powerfully destructive agent to ami
J, NAL and vegetable substance and rapidly re
+ duces it to decomposition. On this accoun
n It should never be mixed with other ma
+ nures unless at the moment of apply n.
a them to the soil or Immediately after
It Thus, in practice, it is commonly spread Oh
!; a field in which barnyard manure or
l. green crop has been plowed under an
1t narrowed in, either with the seed or i'm