Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-10-16
THE FARM.
LIME AND ITS USES.

its uses, show the Importance OF a cor
rect knowledge on SO valuable y help
To agriculture as this material is. The
following notes from u lecture on lime
by DR.. Aiken, chemist to the High
land Agricultural society, may assist
u to understand the subject more
clearly. When-he says-limestone is
heated red hot, the carbonic acid is
driven away, and lime is left behind.
This is the process which is carried on
in lime-kilns, and the produce is vari-
Ously named lime-shell, hot lime, burnt
lime, or caustic lime. The amount Of
lime required by plants is not very
great, and it is frequently found that
fertile soils contain very little OF it.
When caustic lime is exposed to the
air it takes up moisture, and crumblcs
down. Thereafter it soon absorhs ear
bonic acid, and becomes converted into
carbonate of lime, In such a case all
that has been achieved by burning the
limestone is an alteration in its physi-
cal character.
When soil contains too much organ
ic matter, as in the ease of moss and
bog land, the application Of lime is
found to be of great benefit; it rapidly
increases the rotting process going on
in it. and reduces the excess of organic
matter. When land has become
..soured." rs it is called. lime is the
substance that is required TO "sweeten'
it. There are occasions when a cautc-
nv is needed, and when the application
of caustic lime is of special benefit, viz,
wher, the surface of land has become
fouled by the growth OF los and fee
bile annual weeds. The strongly aka
line action of caustic lime is fatal to
these superficial. shallow roofing
plants; while il is unable to kill or DO
much injury to the deep-rooted ones,
such as clover and the more valuable
grasses; accordingly a fogged-up pas
ture is cleaned and improved by the
application OF caustic lime. There is
another use of lime which has been
long known-viz.. its power OF dccom-
posing a. q improving clay land. The
influence Of lime upon clay is very re-
markable, and it is Of n two-fold char
acter-partly physical and partly chem
ical. The chief defect Of clay land is
its tcnacity and pcrmeability in wet
weather. If any portion of n field
has had lime recently applied to it, ii
would be the first to dry up. The eff
feet Of putting lime On wet, sticky clay
is to cause the Shiny surface of the
clay to coagulate into little granular
particles through which water can fill
ter away.
In order that a permanent improve
ment in the value of the soil may be
achieved by this means, the quantity of
lime must be very considerable; and
where lime seems to have had very lit
tie effect IN improving the condition of
the clay land, it is usually owing to
the land having been lightly instead of
heavily lined. Where claf soil has
been derived from the disintcgration Of
feldspathic rocks, it contains within it
n large store Of potash, and when lime
is applied to it, it unites with il, form
inc Il lime clay, and sets free the pot
ash, rendering it rapidly available for
the use Of crops which require potash
largely, such as beans and other le.um-
nous crops.
The chief uses of lime may be
summed up under four heads:-First,
it supplies an ingredient which is es-
sential for the growth of plants, but it
is seldom applied for that purpose,
seeing that soils under ordinary culti-
walton usually contain far more lime
than crops require; secondly, it is a
powerful ~cautery when applied hot to
the soil, and kills moss and surface
weeds: In the third place. it hastens
the rotting of organic matter, and is
therefore beneficially applied to moss
and moorland, and it also favors the
production Of nitric acid in the soil;
and fourthly, when applied to clay land
it decomposes silicates of potash, and
improves the texture of the soil, rem
dering it more friable and permeable to
water.
One dozen winter eggs will pay a
bigger1 store bill than two dozen sum-
mer eggs.
When there is a crack in the stove
it can be mended by mixing ashes and
salt with water.
A few cedar cuttings, such as hedge
clippings, placed in hens nests will
keep away vermin.
1t requires twenty-one days from the
egg to bring forth the perfect bee, and
from fourteen to sixteen to make such
a bee aforager.
1t is believed that there arc more
fowls in the country than at any period
in its history. The supply of poultry
and eggs is very large in most cities.
A farmer of experience in wool
growing says that there is more money
in growing wool at ever twenty cents
per pound than in loaning money at
ten per cent. interest.