Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1914-02-26
lImE; WHAT tTss--
WHAT u DOES.

The calcium com pouDds. general
y classed as lime are applied TO
he soil chiefly 20. the mechanical
md chemical changes they bring |
about. such rs making heavy land |
more friable. removing sourne ss.
plant foods already in the
soil more largely available aud es-
tabIishing more favorable conditions
for the life of the bacteria. so essen
tiaI TO soil fertility. For these pur-
poses the only three forms Of lime
used are calcium oxide burned lime
-qsick lime), calcium hydroxide,
(water-slaked limel and calcium ear
Donate (air-slacked Underground
Iimestonel. Calcium sGlphale. gyp-
sum. or land plaster is not sufficient
~ active chemically to accomplish
the ends generally sought in the APP
pIication of lime" and is not to be
considered or purchas I'd for the pur-
poses for which line is generally
used.
On soils very Iich in organic mat
ter, peaty soils, burned lime may be
purchased. water-slaked and applied
if il can be put on the land as cheap
per pound Of calcium obtained. but
on Southern soils and in fact on most
soils the ground limestone is to be
preferred, if it can he put on the
land for the same price per pound
of calcium. In some localities the
burned lime will furnish calcium
cheapest; but since the superiority
Of the ground limestone is becoming
generally recognized, numerous
,lants are being established for the
grinding of the limestone and the
TRANSPORTATION companies are making
'uch freight rates that in most sec
ions a pound Of calcium can be APP
Dlied in ground limestone cheaper
than in the burned lime.
So-called agricultural lime is often
put on the market at an extravagant
price, based on claims of special
merits or virtues which it does not
possess. AL these calcium COM
pounds should be bought for agri-
cultural purposes on basis of the
calcium they contain and on no
other. The three forms, calcium
,xide tburded lime) calcium hydrox-
lie (water-slaKed lime) and calcium
carbonate lground limestone-air
,laked lime) are the only calcium
compounds which should be bought
FOR the purposes for which lime is
generally applied TO soils The
tables upon which computations are
based, assume that the calcium com
pounds are pure, but this is not ths
.ase. II the rock from which they
re made is OF equal purity, then
,hese tables will still hold approx
nately true, but as 4 matter of fact
different samples of burned lime and
specially ground limestone viii vary
considerably in the amount of cal
;ium which they contain because Of
he Impurities which are often pres
ent.
IL Is not customary for those SELL
ng these calcium compounds to
state their quality in terms of cal
cium, which, we believe. should be
required, but for burned lime the
oer cent. of calcium oxide (actual
lime) is stated, for slaked lime the
per cent. of calcium hydroxlde
(water-slaked lime) may be stated
but usually the guarantee is in
terms of calcium oxide. That in,
the per cent of calcium oxide is
stated, which the calcium. present
would form if combined with oxy-
gen to form calcium oxide, but rs a
matter of fact, there is no calcium
oxide present. For air-slaked lime
or calcium carbonate the per cent of
so-calied carbonate Of lime is stated
or the equivalent of calcium oxide
(actual time).
In view OF these facts il is highly
important that calcium compounds
be bought according to the calcium
they contain and therefore it is inn
portant to remember that il takes
approximately l.s pounds of calcium
carbonate, ground limestone, and L.
pounds of water-slaked lime TO con-
tain rs much calcium as one pound
Of burned lime, when all are pure.
If, however, the burned lime is %
per cent pure, calcium oxide aud the
ground limestone only 81 per cent.
pure calcium carbonate, then it will
require two pounds of the ground
limestons to equal one pound of the
L 4