The Portland daily press., 1879-12-30
!. HORTICULTURAL.
the Uses of Lime

The Journal of Forestry English in an
article on the cultural uses of lime, chemi-
cally and mechanically, and as to its infiu-
ence both on the organic and inorganic con-
stituents of the soil, gives the following as a
summary CT its chief benefits:
A larger produce of cereal crops of supe-
rior quality This is especially the case
with wheat, which becomes thinner skinned,
and yields more flour. The peas grown up
on lined lands are better boilers.
Upon deep alluvial and clay soil it in
creases the crop of potatoes and renders
them less waxy. Sprinkled over potatoes IN
the store-heaD it preserves them, and when
riddled over the cut sets, it wonderfully in
creases their fertility.
Lime eradicates the finger and toe disease
in turnips, and gives greater sOundness and
more nutritive qualities to the bulbs.
1t gives, when applied to meadow lands,
larger produce of more nutritious grasses,
and checks the foot-rot in sheep depastured
upon them. 1t also eXterminateS bent as
well as coarse and sour grasses, destroys
couch grass and acts powerfully upon the
rye grasses.
Upon arabic land it destroys corn-mari-
gold and weeds Of various kinds
1t rapidly decomposes vegetable matter,
producing a large amount of food for plants
in the form of carbonic acid gas.
1t DESTROYS or neutralizes the acids in the
Soils hence its adaptability to sour soils.
1t acts powerfully on some Of the morgan
c parts of the soils, especially on the sui
plate Of iron found in peaty soils and the
sulphate of maenesia and alumina.
1t proves fatal to worms and slugs and the
larvae of injurious insects, though favorable
to the growth of she'll bearers.
1t destroys the germ Of smut upon the
seed of wheat, barley and oats, and is es-
pecialy acceptable to the barley crop which
is generally of good quality upon chaiky
soils.
:. Slaked lime added to vegetable matter
causes it to give off its nitrog4 IN in the form
of ammonia. Upon soils i'll which the am
monia is combined with acid it sets free the
ammonia, which is directly seized upon by
plants.
Its solubility in water causes it to sink in
to and ameiorate the subsoil. When the
soil contains fragments Of granite or trap
rock, lime hastens their decomposition and
liberates the silicates
Its combination with the acids in the soil
produces saline compounds, such as potash,
soda, etc.
1t exerts a marvellous effect upon rape,
though it is said to injure flax, which in
Belgium is not grown for seven years after
lining.
Strewed over young plants, it destroys or
drives away the turnip fly.
Worked in with grass seeds, the beneficial
effects of lime, chalk, mari and shell sand
have been visible for period of thirty years.
1t has a powerful pulverizing effect upon
the wealden clay, ON the sandstone forma-
ton, and on the GRANTEES and slate rocks.
1t is generally supposed to hasten the
ripening of corn (cereal) crops.
It promotes the formation in the soil Of
what are called the double silicates. This
process starts with the clay, or silicate OF
anmina, and is afterwards continued through
the S. of alumina and lime, the S. of A. and
potash, and A. and ammonia.
Applied to the rot heap, lime offectualy
destroys the seeds of weeds.
To sum up its advantages, it says, when
properly applied to the soil it purifies and
stimulates its action, thereby promoting the
growth of healthy vegetation Of all kinds.