Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-06-29

d quantity that could not be detect
ed under ordinary conditions, woui'
supply twice the amount of lime neeaed
by a clover crop, which is the only
| one of our ordinary farm crops. that
contains as much lime as potash.
Lime, however, serves other pur-
poses than as simple plant food. One
of the most important of these is the
correction of acidity in the soil. When
soil becomes acid, clover will not
thrive upon it. and when this condition
occurs an Applicant ton of lime may be
necessary, a point thoroughly delnoll-
strated at the Ohio experiment station.
where luxuriant crop of clover has
been grown on lined land, while the
clover on unlmed land alongside was
complete failure.
Lime performs still another impor-
tant function in liberia ting plant food
already in the soil. If little lime be
mixed with a strong manure, such as
hen manure an odor of ammonia VIII pc
come apparent. This means that the
lime is liberating The ammonia from the
manure, and that it is escaping into
the air. Ii lime be mixed with the
soil similar action will take place. II
crop be growing upon the SOIL, It
may absorb part of the escaping am
monia, and a larger crop will result;
but this larger crop is made at the
expense of the soil stores of plant
food and If these stores are not main
tanned by msnuring or fertflizing. the
soil viii soon refuse to respond to
lime, because all material in it upon
which lime can act has been drawn
out, and the soil is poorer than if no
lime had been used
European farmers who have used
lime for many years have become so
convinced of its injurious effect when
used in this way that they say Lime
enriches the father, but impoverfshes
the son.. and it is customary in some
places to prohibit the use of lime in
leasing land.
Danger in Pasturins Rape.
AS there are many sowing rape this
year for the first time we would call
their attention to the fact that there
is need of some care in the pasturing
of this crop: especially with sheep
1t is even worse than clover in caus-
ing bloat in sheep, though we have
never heard of any trouble with cattle
in this regard, perhaps for the reason
that they are not SO fond of this crop.
and do not eat it SO greedily when
first turned on to it, as they do clover.
Until sheep become accustomed to
it it is not safe to leave them for any
length of time on rape. even after the
dew has dried off When first turning
them to it the best plan is to allow
them to get good feed of something
else before turning them onto the rape,
then they will not eat SO greedily. A
half hour at a time is long enough
to leave them on at first. A good way
to pasture it after they have become
accustomed to it is to have it in con-
nection with good bluegrass or other
pasture and allow them to run from
one to the other at will. The rape is
too succulent for the best results as
an entire pasture plant for sheep. If
at any time they are inclined to crop 1t
too close they can be shut off of 1t UNI
til it gets fresh start
1t should be borne in mind that no
plant will produce as much feed II too
closely cropped. The roots become
starved for want of the support nor
,nally received from the air thru the
leaves. To insure a maximum amount
of pasturage from the rape it will be
we'll also to withhold the stock from
it until it gets well established. say
ten or twelve inches high. With the
roots thus we'll established the amount
of feed it will supply is enormous.