Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1913-09-17
The Basic Element Of
Soil Improvement.
Need of Lime.

1t has become recognized TACT, and
the Experiment Stations and others
who have investigated, have tried to
impress it upon the farmers of New
England. that great part of our farm
lands are deficient in lime.
The function of lime is two-fold.
1t not only furnishes lime as plant
plant growth through it's effect upon
| the soil and the soil constituents.
| Lime is one of the chemical ele
ments of which plants are composed.
and it's presence in the soil is abso-
a perfect plant Some plants require
much more lime than others. and
among those requiring large quantities
of lime are clover, alfalfa and all
legumes, timothy, barley, beets,
cabbages. turnips, and many others,
all of which are staple crops in New
| England.
In order to produce normal crop 1t
is necessary to have present in the soil
and air all of the elements of which a
plant is composed. If the supply of
any one of the plant food elements is
! limited the crop yield will also be
limited. Experiments have shown
that in some cases where single ele-
ment is omitted the result is worse
than where no plant food is supplied.
1t naturally follows that if farmer
soil is deficient in lime, no matter
how much fertilizer he may use, he
will not procure a normal crop, and
will lose the value of large part of
his fertilizer until he supplies his soil
with lime.
Soil, deficient in lime, becomes sour
and acid.
Most of the farm crops raised in
New England are large users of lime,
Ga ton of clover hay contains about
forty pounds of lime), and generations
of cultivation without replacing the
lime taken from the soil, the decompo-
sition of organic matter and the use of
acid phosphates and other agricultural
chemicals. have all tended to make our
soils, which were never over supplied
with lime, acid, and this acid condition
can be eliminated only through the
use of lime.
Plant life IS also dependent upon
different forms of bacteria to decom-
pose organic matter and to make plant
food in the soil and air available for
assimilation by the plant. Further
more, we must depend entirely upon
bacteria if we intend to make use OF
the great quantities of nitrogen in the
air. Certain of these bacteria are
able to live in connection with the
roots .of legumes. such as clover.
alfalfa, beans, peas and lupines tc
change it to a form that is available tc
plants. Acid in the soil is injurious
to these bacteria and kills them as
they can live and do their work best
only in soil that is alkaline, and ar
acid soil can be changed to an alkaline
soil only through the use of lime.
Soils on which, when seeded, timothy
and clover fail, and where sorre
comes in abundantly together with rec
top, are almost invariably acid. Acid
ity in the soil is also indicated by
the presence of much moss, or al
abundant growth of bluets, horsetails
polypod brakes or white daisies.
A simple method of determining
whether soil is acid is as follows
Get some blue litmus paper at you
local druggists or we will send yol
: the same on request. With a clear
jack knife cut slit into the earth AM
, in this slit insert sheet of the blu
litmus paper pressing the soil firml.
around it. Wait from five to tel
minutes and examine the paper care
|, fully. If the blue color is changed t
. pink or red. it is indicative of an aci
condi ton. Care should be taken i
' handling the litmus paper that tn
, portion used for the test does not com
in contact with the perspiring hand
t because persplration is also acid i
, nature and consequently will have tn
same effect on the color of the pape
as an acid soil has.