Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1880-06-16

ed as an experiment, will, Of course
be complicated by the fact that fol
certain space Oftime caustic lime
is in contact with the soil. 1t could
never be told with certainty precis-
ly what part Of the good, OR per
chance the bad, effects Of the
lining operation were attribu-
ted to the slaked lime or to the
lime-carbonate formed from it.
The failure of such an experiment
would in no wise prove that car
Donate of lime cannot be used to re-
place leached ashes; but, on the
other hand, from the very simplici-
ty of the trial, any successful re-
suits obtained by means Of it would
be specially valuable; and the
chances axe that in many cases the
lime would turn out to be a better
application than the leached ashes
There can hardly be a doub
that many comparisons of lime with
leached ashes, in the sense of the
foregoing proposal, have actually
been made already by American far
mers, and it would be well if all O.
them could be collected and stud
| led anew in the light Of what i;
now known of the composition and
modes Of action of both these fcrtil-
izers.
Another way Of proceeding would
be to use air-slaked lime in COM
parison with the leached ashes, OF
rather lime which has first been
slaked with water and then expos
ed to the air until it has become
carbon&ted, tor quick'lime is par
TALLY carbonated when permitted to
Stake slowly in the air. Lime is
often sold in tn slaked condition
for agricultural purposes,and might
be spread out in thin layer. in a
barn cellar, for example, and left for
a number Of weeks, with occasional
razings, until it had become satura-
ted with carbonic acid by absortion
from the air. In case only quick
lime is procurable, some OF it might
be slaked with about halfits weight
ofwatcr and then exposed to the air.
Allowing for impurities in the
quick-lime, some % or 80 pounds
Of the carbonated product might be
used against bushel Of leached
ashes.
Still another practical term Of
comparison could be obtained by
preparing a quantity of compost
with lime and peat and contrasting
this product with the leached ashes,
though, Of course, good part Of
the benefit deliyablc from the conf
post might be due to the nitrogen
GUS matters contained in 1t.
Some years since an article call
ed oystershel foar, obtained by
or;ndno oyster shells extremely
fine, was procurable in Boston,
which might have been used for ex-
periments such as are here propos-
ed, though it is doubtful whether
this -four would have been found
50 economical a fertilizer as slaked
oyster-shell lime. No process Of
mechanical attrition is likely to give
the fneness and openness 10 the
action Of the solvents which results
from a chemical operation such as
the shaking of lime. In some ex
perimcnts of my own, which were
published in the Bussey Bulletin,
oyster-shell lime gave rather better
results than were obtained from this
oyster-shell flour,
The spent lime obtainable from
soap boilers in the vicinity Of cities
may very properly be used, after
it has become dry, for experiments
such as are here suggested. But
the spent lime from gas works would
hardly be fit for these trials, Not
only does it contain, when fresh,
certain tarry matters and sulphur
compounds which are obnoxious
to vegetation, but even after wealth
ring. it may retain enough empyr-
eumatic matter to hinder the pro
ess of notification, the promotion
Of which in the soil is probably
one great merit Of leached ashes and
the other forms Of lime.
For cases where small quantities
of leached ashes are used, as when
the farmer put a handful Of the ma
teriaIs on each hill Of corn,it would
be an easy and not a particularly
expensive matter, to use whiting up
on some of the rows, instead OF
leached ashes. 1t would be neces-
sary only to determine how many
handsful 90 to the bushel, or, more
simply, how much a handful of
leashcJ ashes weighs, and to apply
the whiting with some kind OF a
spoon which shall give to each hill
Of corn as much whiting as is equal
to 25-ffty-iifths the weight OF a
handful of leached ashes.
With regard to the cost substitu-
ting lime for leached ashes, in the
manner above indicated, it is easy
to show that in my localities it could
not be great, If it be admitted, for
the sake of the argument, that the
farmer can obtain quick-lime at
eight cents the bushel which is,