The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1910-01-20
LIME AND solL Aclolrv.
by John A. Mcclure
Director Srd Institute District


Calcium and magnesium are two
minerals very closely associated, and,
united with carbon dioXide. they con
stitute the limestone beds of the
world Magnesium is an indespensa'
bic plant food. as is also lime. Both
collect largely in the seeds of plants
the magncsia more abundantly than
the lime. wheat containing ~ per
cent In its ash of magnesia, as a.
gainst per cent of lime. while the
ashes of peas contain 5 per cent OF
the former TO per cent OF the latter.
Thus briefly, is given the necessity OF
the presence of lime In the existence
Of plant life. Carbonio acid. which
comes down from the clouds In the
rains that moisten the earth. dissolv,s
the lime i'm our soils and IL deep pillow
ing is not practiced, and the soil is
left bare during the winter. erosion.
or In other words washing takes place
and the lime is washed away TO the
gulf or teaches out. and this condi-
ton coupled with the blowing under
of heavy beds of weeds and the ming.
ling of carbonic acid. leaves an acid
or sour soil upon which clover cannot
be grown successfully. much less al
falfa Why Is this? The nitrifying
so necessary to the fixing of mumus.
which we mentioned in our last arti.
Gle, and manipulating the nitrogen so
as TO make Il available for plant food
cannot exist in an acid soil. and with.
out them upon the roots Of clover, al
falfa and other legumes. these plants
cannot be grown successfully Aside
from this condition clover. for each
1000 pounds of air dry product re
quires from the soil 565 pounds. for
the stalk and 500 pounds for the grain
or a total of 93.4 pounds OF lime
From the foregoing We can form sons
conception of the wonderful tenacity
of Fulton county soil.
With no underlying strata of lime
stone close TO the surface from whose
dislntergration the soil can be benefit
ted, yet from the great army OF she'll
bearers and coral builders have. in
all the geologic ages, laid down their
nantes and framework for our bene-
fit and from such conditions we have
been drawing the lime that has thus
far given us ample results.
But We have at last drawn to the
limit. nature no longer responds I'm
bounteous crops of clover and we
wonder why. The conditions that
confront us are outlined above; we
have arrived at a period In the which
we must heed the cry of nature and
supply her with the conditions for
which she Is clamoring before she
can respond TO the demands made up
on her for her generous gifts as of
yore. The soil of Fulton county and
the Purchase generally. is acid. or
sour to make my meaning clearer.
and this acidity must be corrected:
this can only be done by the applica-
ton OF that constituent that the soil
has been robbed of-I.ime. Raw
limestone. while not so quickly avail
able, is the safest to use, at the
rate of a ton TO the acre. Burnt, or
caustic lime becomes available at
once, but must be air slaked before
il Is APPLIED; 500 or 1000 pounds OF
the latter is sufficient. being In a
concentrated form. requiring one hun.
dred pounds OF raw limestone for So
pounds Of caustie lime The applica-
ton to be made a week or two prior
to wheat seeding and narrowed In.
not plowed. Never apply lime in a
caustic state. or rather burnt lime
with manure. a Identifying process
takes place that releases the nitrogen,
forming nitric acid which escapes in
the air and robs II (the manure) OF
its plant food. Caustic lime. when
plowed under In its caustic state de-
stroys the humus and leaves your
soil in a worse condition than IL was
before the application. Raw ground
limestone can be procured at Menard.
H., Illinois Penitentiary. at 75c per
ton, (. o. b. Should the farmers make
an earnest effort to avail themselves
OF this article from Menard Il could
be shipped by water, so that the
freight rates would b. very nominal
Limestone for soils can also be pro-
cured at Hopkinsville, but is much
higher, yet considering the amount of
clover seed that is sown each spring
with results it would be cheap at any
price II results can be obtained. Pro-
gressive farmers all over the state
are using ground limestone with good
results, and while they began the use
OF II very charity. they are now us.
ing II in large quantities and find II
gives results far beyond their most
sanguine expectations. The soil OF
Fulton county can be made as fertile
as II was in its vergin state, and
Prof. Hopkins says: "Soil that once
produced 30 and 40 bushels of wheat
and 10 and 20 barrels OF corn to the
acre. can be made TO do II again with
proper conditions and proper cultiva-
ton"