The Wilmington daily Republican., 1895-12-28
s,
LIME AS a rsar,LixsR.
fts value 10 ths Farmsr-rzow and when
Ts MAY Bs Applied.

Is Mag Bs Applied.
II we study the curl position Of plants,
we end that lime Ia .he NEST important
part Of the mineral elements Of nearly
every one. And IL Is to be remembered
that in the growth Of plants every Gle
ment found in thom Ia indispensable.
But how much more must II be soil
such thing were possible. for cns ele-
ment to be more indispensable than an
other---for lime, which exists in such q
large proportion, to be anything but In
dispensable. And this must be thought
so asSye consider that In the ash of hay
one eighth part is lime; in the ash of
clover more than third Of it is lime;
in the ash Of. potato tops nearly one half
is lime. Tho ashes Of wood, which wc
think SO valuable ON account OF the pot
ash in them, have several times more
lime than potash, tho lime amounting
to from 30 to 10 per cent. And there is
not one plant grown that has not lime
in its ashea. The same applies to potash
and phosphoric acid. and reasonably
these are supposed to be food for plants;
why, then, Is not lime plant foodi
Surely 1t must be so considered Thus
writes that excellent authority. Henry
Stewart, in The American Agricuitur-
list He also is authority for the follow
ings
The best farmed localities in the
world are those where the soil contains
large proportion Of lime, being deriv.
cd from the decomposition Of limestone
rocks. But 1t Is not so much ON account
Of the lime In the soil that the land is
SO we'll farmed and SO productive, but
mostly for the reason that lime being
there abundant and cheap, tho farmers
burn the limestone and make lime, and
apply it to the land. Lime only is q
plant food, but limestone is not. and
the coil may be well filed with lime.
stone and yet be quite poor. Now lime
is very active chemical substance.
This will be seen if some of it is pat in
some vinegar. This will foam up and
boil over tho cup, and - large quanti-
ty of gas will be evolved. In the end
there will be no more acid in the vine
gar. And this is one effect of lime on
soil that is sour, such as swamp land,
in which the excess Of acid prevents the
growth of any useful plants.
If we put some lime on a dead ami
NAL or on any other organic matter, it
will quickly decompose it and reduce it
to its original e1ements, and this is one
effect of lime when used in a compost,
the matters thus decomposed then be.
coming good manure and useful food
for plants. And this same effect is pro-
duced in the soil when quicklime is ap-
piled, as it usually is in the fall when
the land is prepared for wheat and grass
and clover seeding. But the chemist
may take some sand Or other mineral
matter and mix lime with it, and then
add water, and the lime will dissolve
quite considerable quantity of this
mineral matter. forming silicates Of
lime, and by taking the silica from the
potash, or the phosphate, or magnesia,
Or the alumina, etc, that the soil 10
made up Of, the lime renders these ele-
ments of plant food soluble and avail
able for the crops.
Now this is small part Of the nat
ural history of lime, as it is used in
good farming. And with such a history
we must realize it's value to the farmer,
quite independently Of the fact wheth-
er it is actually plant food or not
And as the season is approaching when
the land is in the best condition foE the
application Of lime, as lime is most
soluble in cold water, and the wheat
crop is most convenient for it, it is q
question for all Of us if it is not advisa-
BILE to so use it, and gather the fruits Of
its good effects on the soil. The freshly
burned lime only is used, and 30 to DO
bushels per acre is the usual quantity.
1t is left in heaps in the field, preferably
of one bushel each, two rods apart, and
in "a few days it falls to fine powder
by the action Of tho moisture Of the air,
Or a shower of rain, when it is easily
spread quite evenly-so MS to just whit.
en- the surface-with long handled
shovel. But when lime is thus used for
the wheat, ii is not advisable to use SUI
perphosphate until the spring. 1t can
then be used to advantage.
I