The Portland daily press., 1895-01-12
LIME AS A FERTILIZER.
The Natural History of Lime as 1T Is Used
In Good Farming.


The Natural History of Lime as 1T Is Used
In Good Farming.
Many persons in whose good judg-
ment and sense every one has confidence
insist that lime is not plant food, and
is therefore useless as a fertilizer. Now,
plant food is considered to be- any !
thing that, being contained in plants to
large extent, may be applied to the
soil to contribute to the supply Of it for,
the crops. When we see that when such.
an element of plant substance is applied
to the soil the following crop is great
" helped, we can, hardly agree with the
opinion that it is not food for plants,
writes Henry Stewart to American Ag.
riculturist. HeNsays:
II we study the composition Of plants,
we find that lime is the most Important
part of the mineral elements of nearly
every one. The ash of plant is made
up of these mineral elements, and by
examining the ash we may discover
what kinds and quantities of mineral
matters the plants require. And it is to
be remembered that in the growth OF
plants every element found in them is
indispensable. But how much more
must it be SO. if such thing were
possible, for one element to be more in
dispensable than another, for lime,
which exists in such large proportion,
to be Anything but indispensable?
And this must be thought so as we
consider that in the ash of hay one
eighth past 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. The ashes of wood, which we
think SO valuable ON account of the pot
ash in them, have several times more
lime than potash, the lime amounting
to from 80 to 70 per cent. And there IS
not one plant grown that has not lime
in it's ashes The same applies to pot
ash and phosphoric acid, and reasona-
bly, these are supposed to be food for
plants. Why, then, is not lime plant
food? Surely it must be SO considered. e
The best farmed localities in the
world are those where the soil contains
large proportion Of lime, being de-
rived from tho decomposition of limes
stone rocks. But it is not SO much OF
account of the lime in the soil that the
land is so we'll farmed and SO produc
tive, but mostly for the reason that, lime
being there abundant and cheap, the
farmers burn the limestone and make
lime and apply it to the land. Lime
only is plant food, but limestone is
not, and the soil may be well filled with
limestone and yet be quite poor. This
is common experience. Now, lime is
very active chemical substance. This
will be seen il some Of it is put IN some
vinegar. This will foam up and boil over
the cup, and larger quantity OF gas
will be evolved. In the end there will
be no more acid in the vinegar. 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 dead ami.
NAL or any other organic matter, 1t Will
quickly decompose it and reduce 1t ia
its original elements, and this is one
effect of lime when used in 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 Their
add water, and the lime will dissolve
quite considerable quantity of this
mineral matter, forming sliicate OF
lime, and by taking the silica from the
potash or the phosphstes or magnesia
OR the alumina, etc., that the soil is
made up OF, the lime renders these Gle
ments Of plant food soluble and availa-
BILE for the crops.
Now, this is small part OF the nat
ural history of lime as it is used i'll
good farming. And with such history
we must realize its value to the farmer
quite independently of the fact whether
it is actually plant food or not. And
as this IS the season when the land is III
the best condition for the application OF
lime, as lime is most soluble IN cold
water and the wheat crop is most con
venlent for it, it is a question for all OF
us II 1t Is not advisable to so use 1t and