The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1899-10-06
LINE As A FERTILIZER.


| The fall is the best time for apply
ing lime ON the soil, though some
farmers use it early in the spring. 1t
does we'll when a green crop has been
| plowed under and the lime broad.
cssted over the surface of the land.
Lime is procured in two forms for use
on farms, that from limestone being
preferred, but lime made by burning
oyster shells is also excellent, while
wood ashes contain large proportion,
| the lime from stone being taken
| direct from a mineral substance, the
she'll lime being q product of shell
| fish, while that in ashes is produced
through vegetable sources. In all
cases, however, the lime is the same,
but in variable quantities, according
! to the materials from which it is de-
rived, though stone lime gives the
most direct results. When lime-stones
or shells are burned there is q liberia
ton of carbonic acid, the substance
being changed from carbonate of lime
to lime: but as lime has tendency to
revert to carbonate of lime it is dis.
posed TO take carbonic acid from the
| air or any substance containing it in
the soil. When Stacked with water
the result is hydrate of lime, and when
atmosphere, becoming a fine white
powder, in which form it is used on
land. If the hydrate of lime is not
Immediately applied, but remains long
exposed to the air, it unites with the
carbonic acid of the atmosphere and
becomes carbonate of lime again, be-
ing then in the same condition as be-
fore being burned. 1t has really re-
turned to limestone, only it is in the
form of a fine powder, and has then
lost its power to exert immediate
chemical effect. Lime should, there
fore, be applied as soon as it is suffi-
GENTLY air-slacked to become fine.
Lime is not classed among the fer
tiliZers which are quickly available
for plants. While it enters into the
composition of all plants, it must con-
sequently exist in all soils; but it's
value depends more upon its tendency
to hasten chemical action in the soil,
rather than upon its use as food for
plants, and whether the soil is light or
heavy, sterile or fertile, there is some
change induced by lime when applied
to the land. Its tendency is to work
downward, for which reason it is ad-
vantageous to apply small quantity
every year after the first application,
beginning with 80 bushels per acre on
light soils and 40 bushels on heavy
land; but even 10 bushels will show
some result, as lime fits the soil for
the presence of micro organisms which
perform an important function in
providing plant food, an alkaline con-
dition of the soil being sometimes
necessary. As carbonic acid is large
ly generated by the decay of vegetable
matter in the soil the application of
lime creates many chemical changes,
in which other mineral and organic
substances are broken up in their
combinations. rendering soluble many
inert materials that could not be en-
ployed as plant food, but which exist
in the soil abundantly. While lime
is not, therefore, necessary adjunct
to the soil with other fertilizers, and
gives but little direct benefit to a crop
itself, yet its indirect action unlocks
stores of material and supplies the
crop with available fertilizer. The
action of lime in the soil has been in
yestigated years ago, as it has always
been known to agriculturists, yet it
is not fully understood at the present
day how it changes soils and dissolves
substances which are not affected by
it outside of the soil, as it seems to
play certain parts according to the
soil on which it is used.
II lime compels the soil to liberate
its plant-food it is but natural to sup
pose that the constant use of lime
will lead to impoverishment of the
soil. With all its advantages lime can
cause injury if used improperly. That
it will stimulate the soil to give up
its plant food is true, but lime is not
to be considered as something to be
used alone, or with the expectation of
having it perform the service which
belongs to nitrogen, potash and phos-
phoric acid. Lime gives the best re-
suits when used in connection with
manure or green crops that are turned
under. 1t is the manure or crop that
provides the plant food and not the
lime, but lime induces hasty action
and enables the materials added to
the soil to assume the forms most
available for plants. When the land
is sour and grown up with sorrel
(Which contains oxalic acid) lime Is
said then to ''sweeten" the soil by re-
moving the sourness, but what it
really does is to assist in changing the
acids of the soil into carbonate and
oXalate of lime through chemical
combinations, the sour soil becoming
alkaline because the lime has taken
up the acids which existed before it's
presence. With the changes thus
made follow others, but they may be
rapid or slow, according to circum-
stances, sometimes the benefits from
lime not being apparent until the
second year; but on soils upon which
lime has not been applied for years it
never fails to give excellent results
and in proportion to the benefits de-
rived it costs but little, is plentiful and
should be used more extensively.