Smyrna times., 1878-04-24
.ag2'ScWl2etrUI.
On the Use Of Lime.


application of lime to his SOIL He is build
ing kiln to burn two thousand bushels,
and asks "whether lime is not equal to or
better than any of the mercantile fetili-
zers.'
Lime is cheaper, so far as the first cost Of
it is concerned, than any other material
applied for the renovation or the improve
ment of the soil, but it requires so much
longer time to have its full operation that |
it is generally dispensed with oy those who
are able to purchase a more active fertili- !
zer Although it may be accepted as a |
general rule that lime will be of good ser.
vice. let it be put on when it will get the |
generally accepted time as the most suita
Bile, as in the fall, but at no time should |
it be plowed under, as its specific weight |
will force it into the earth with sufficient
rapidity to answer the purpose for which it |
is intended. Some of the very best far
mers in Maryland commenced the renova-
ton of their lands by the use of lime, but
in year or two took the application of
bodies and other more active means of
bringing up their lands. Prominent among
these were Mr.. Woolsey, of Hartford county, |
and Prof. Benjamin Hailowell, of Mont |
gomery, both of whom have had as good an
opportunity to test the value of the several
fertilizers generally used as any other far
mers in the State, and upon land as COM
pletely worn out as was to be found any
where.
1t has been fully tested by chemists and
practical farmers of the highest reputation
that the soil must have lime present in it.
The inert, insoluble matters become by its
transmitting power changed into soluble,
available plant food, but the very power
which it thus possesses renders it liable to
abuse. There must either be present or
be added by the farmer supplies of vegeta-
BILE substances, in order that there may be
continually provided material upon which
the lime may operate, and so replace those
substances made assmilable and removed
by the crops taken off. But the quantity of
lime to effect the decided purpose is but
very limited, and ten bushels to the acre
for each year of rotation of crops has
been found to be amply sufficient. Amongst
others, Professor Volcker, of England, and
Professor Emmons, of North Carolina have
decided the former by actual experiments,
and the latter fully confirms the PROPOSE
ton in the following remarks upon the
geological survey of his State:
" If we may appeal to observation and
experiment, it is established that small
per centage of lime only is necessary to the
highest degree of fertility; and get this small
per centage IS necessary. If there is present
one-half of one per cent it seems to be suffi
cient, for it is rare to find large quantity
in productive Soils Professor Emmons
was perhaps the first to ascertain that some
of the most productive soils for wheat in
western New York contain comparatively
but little lime. In rotation of four or FIVE
years forty or fifty bushels of lime will suffice
for that period to be renewed with another
curse. This where lime is not already in
the soil or, if there, in an inert state, the
fresh dose will bring it into activity.
Lime unites with the silica in barnyard
manure, whether applied in the caustic or
mild state, forming silcate of lime, which
is slowly available to plants. Lime liberates
ammonia from manure, which is decom-
posed by the lime, whether carbonate or
hydrate. Lime, therefore, in no farm
should ever be applied to manures contain
ing ammonia under circumstances allowing
the escape of free ammonia. Earth will
absorb it if the process goes on in the soil
1t may also be mixed by plaster; and it is
presumable that analogous results would
ensue when lime, caustic or carbonate
comes in contact with humus in the soil.
Mr.. Walters, of Fairfax, Virginia, in
giving his process of bringing up his worn
out land, gives lime the preference ovel
bone dust and guano, and the mainstay
and cheapest of all fertilizers, and in his
neighborhood he is considered the mode
farmer. When he took possession of hi
farm it did not produce hay enough to feeC
two cows and two horses. He paid $2l pei
acre for it, and it is worth now, according
to the last assessment, 1926, and is doubt
less worth more, whilst farms in the neigh
borhood, within the same space of time
have increased only 81 or s. per acre il
value. He commenced the improvement
of his soil by lining and ditching. Haul
ing shells and burning on the farm con
tinued two years. He then bought luml
lime fresh from the rock at sixteen cent
per bushel and hauled three miles and ap
piled this lime at the rate of thirty-fv
bushels per acre on corn ground after pillow
ing in the spring. In autumn he sowsc
the same in wheat, using one hundred ant
fifty pounds of Peruvian guano per acre
ard sowing one gallon and a half Of timoth
seed and in the spring one gallon of Glove
seed per acre. He let this remain in grass
moving every summer, pasturing in tn
fall and applying one hundred and fift
pounds Of plaster per acre every spring
II has recently raised over twenty barrel
Of shelled corn, forty bushels of wheat an
two tons Of hay per acre, and still buy
limestone, a ...- and burns it in pits o
the farm
We believe the time of applying th
lime for the ensuing wheat crop, as pre-
posed Oy our correspondent, would be /
the spring, as was done by Mr.. Walter
1t takes some six months to slake, and
applied in the spring to the land would b
in fit condition to benefit the wheat Gro
that is, in the finest state. Like plastt
there is still great difference Of opinio
upon the subject of the use of lime Bl
the most possible conclusion arrived at
that it must be in the soil or placed ther
otherwise there can be no proportion
crop, il being an ingredient found in a
cultivated crops. The use Of lime Of la
years has been less than was formerly ii
case, owing, no doubt, to the reasons alreaC
assigned-the quicker returns of other fe
tilizers. And we observe, by the reports
the farmers clubs of Montgomery count
Maryland, presented in January, that II
farmers who have the past year used linn
have found great benefits from its applic
ton, and that there is an increased intere
manifested in its use. Hill Carter, h
well known agriculturist of Virginia, can
to the conclusion, after the war, that d
difficulty of applying the lime had pl
vented the usual effects upon the crol