Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1877-06-06
THE USE or LIME AS 4 FER
IILIZER

The season is approaching for the
preparation of the soil Tor next years
seed. This, and the selection OF the
best kinda, are Of sufficient Importance
to occupy the mind Of the farmer aud
TO greater extent than is occasional
ly given, when il is considered that
inferior or unadapted seed will produce,
as rule, an inferior crop. Thus to
SOW wheat on soil which contains no
lime or marl- either naturally or ar
tifcially--ls sure to bring a poor re-
turn. A remarkable instance of this
took place in Ireland after the famine.
IL is fact well known by the more
intelligent farmers in that country that
the extensive central plain which oc-
cupies the surface land at the foot OF
the mountains contains no lime or
mari, and that dressings with these
materials were at stated times applied
when the culture Of wheat was intend.
ed The product from an average
year was twenty barrels per acre
Irish, or about sixty bushels to the
English acre After the famine, the
poverty and want OF heart TO do their
best by the land compelled those who
remained on their farms, unsubdued
by the famine and pestilence, to omit
the usual application Of lime TO the
soil, and the consequence was that, in
stead Of twenty barrels per Irish acre,
the yield was from five to seven bar
rels, being q reduction of from two
thirds TO three-fourths.
Another instance occurred in the
case Of three farmers from Suffolk,
who took tract Of land Of about six
hundred acres near Sligo, enclosed
with wall as a park. In a letter
from one Of them after they had been
there a few years, he stated that they
were about TO abandon their horlings,
as the land would not grow wheat for
want of lime, Of which there was none
to be obtained in the neighborhood,
while the soil contained not a particle
Of that material, and there was none
within reasonable reach of their farms
In such cases as this the application Of
lime is required to be renewed fire.
quently, because either lime or mari
will sink in almost any soil, especially
light, so that the process Of renewing
the application Of these materials is
very expensive.
fIhorn IL bo,vovor "a d,.o,,tool, 10
this favorable account OF the effects Of
the application Of lime to the soil,
namely that it is possible to overtime /;
that it produces larger crops for a eer-
tain number of years, after which the
return falls away until it becomes less
than before the lime was applied, so
that it appears to have exhausted in
stead OF enriched the soil. In account
ing for this adverse effect of what is
admitted on all hands to be a benefit,
the chemists state that lime acts on
all the organic parts Of the soil, by
which il is rendered more serviceable
to the growth of plants. On the other
hand, the proportion of organic mat
ters in the soil gradually diminishes
under the prolonged action of the lime,
and thus the soil becomes less rich in
those substances Of organic origin on
which its fertility to a certain extent
depends. The same effect is produced
on the mineral matter in the soil, when
there is abstracted from it more
abundant supply in proportion with its
immediate effect per Sc. Unless, there
fore, an adequate proportion of those
matters are supplied in other manures,
tho soil will necessarily become ex-
hausted to such an extent as to coun.
teract or neutralize the action Of the
lime. The way, therefore, TO prevent
this effect, is to manure largely with
iarm-yard manure and saline substan.
ces, and thus return or repay TO the
soil whatever may have been extract
ed too speedily or too copiously from it,
- Marx Lane Express.