Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1917-06-12
SON Acidity and Lining.

| Soil Acidity and Lining.
| An acid soil rarely, II ever, produces
Icr0p yields that are 90 large 10 those
produced by the same soil after the
acidity has been corrected. Field and
lgreenhouse experiments have repeatedly
demonstrated this fact. Our most com.
mon and valuable legumes, such "a
alfalfa, red clover and sweet clover, are
especially hindered by an aoid soil.
Often It 10 impossible to make these
crops grow at all until the scidity In the
soil is at least partially corrected. When
such soils are lined these crops can
generally be grown without difficulty,
and In many cases increased yields as
high a. II 8 per cent have been reported
% result Of limisg. In view Of the
Importance Of this problem 1t behooves
every farmer to find out where bis soil
stands In regard to acidity, and, If
necessary, to add lime to the soil.
TESTING THE SOIL WITH LITMUs PAPER
It is an easy matter to determine
whether or not q soil is acid. The
appearance of certain weeds, among
them, sheepsorrel, corn spurry, horse
tail rush, and wood horsetsil, Ia gener-
ally an Indication OF q sour soil. But
there are several simple, direct methods
whereby any soil can readily be tested
for acidity. By far the simplest and
most practical way Of determining soil
acidity is by means of blue litmus paper.
A representative sample of the soil is
thoroughly moistened with pure rain
water, . cut made into It with Q knife,
cut, and the soil pressed firmly against
the paper and allowed to be In contact
with the paper for five or six minutes.
The paper Is then removed, washed free
from dirt with pure rain water, and
examined for q red colorstion. A red
color In spots or over the whole strip
indicates that the soil is acid. II the
paper has retained Its original blue colcr
the soil 10 not acid and contains enough
lime to produce good crops.
TO swEETEN THE SOIL.
II the soil has been found to be acid
some form of lime must be added to
the soil to insure its highest productive.
ness. The kind OF lime to be added
depends upon the location where 1t Is
needed and the price. Marl, pulverized
shells, marble dust and refuse lime
from sugar beet factories are excellent
forms Of lime but are not always to be
had. Burned or quick lime and slaked
lime are very effective forms OF lime
but must be used with precaution.
Ground or pulverized limestone Is the
most common form of lime used on sour
soils. It is a very excellent form In
which to apply lime since Its effects are
certain and, except for cost, there is
practically no danger of applying ex-
oessive amounts. Wood ashes, where
available, are good source Of lime
since they contain from 18 to 80 per cent
lime carbonate besides liberal supply
of potash and small amount OF phos-
phoric aoid.
The following rates Of application,
repeated every to years, are generally
recommended: quick lime, ton per
acre; air slaked lime, 2 or tons per
acre; refuse lime from glucose factories
aud tanneries, 2 tons per acre; refuse
lime from beet sugar factories, to 2
tons per acre; she'll dust, to 2 tons per
acre; mari, to tons per acre; crushed
limestone, Q to 4 tons per acre.
Any form Of lime should always be
applied previous to planting the crop
which is to receive the benefit OF lining.
On clay soils limestone may be applied
iu fall, winter or spring; but on light
soils spring application is preferable.
To be most effective the neutralizer
should be applied to plowed land and
thoroughly worked In by narrowing,
but never plowed under.
HOW TO APPLY LIME.
Several methods of applying lime or
neu eutralizers are suggested. One method
is that of spreading lime from the wagon
by shovel, taking q square rcd As
unit of measure for surface, and round
ing shovelful as unit for lime. Thus
Q definite amount per acre can easily be
applied. Another entails the use OF a
manure spreader. The spreader Is set
at It's lowest gear, q few inches OF fine
manure spread over the bottom OF the
boz, and tho lime or neutralizer dis
tributed evenly on top of this thin layer
of manure which serves to hold the lime
In. Quick lime may be hauled to the
field and placed in little piles of about
80 pounds each on the plowed land.
For an application of one ton per acre
the piles should be two rods apart each
way. The lime Is slaked by covering
each pile With moist soil or pouring q
pail OF water over II. When slaked, the
lime is carefully spread and worked into
the soil.
1t 10 becoming more common to use
special machinery for the purpose OF
applying ground limestone or other
forms OF lime. Some Of the fertilizer
distributors or lime spreaders are simply
small attachments that can be applied
to the wagon box, and the material
shovelled into them from the wagon a.
1t moves along. Other types Of spread.
ers or distributors are built on the plan
of an ordinary grain seeder. Where
there 10 much lining to do 1t is often
advisable for one farmer to buy q special
lime distributor or for two farmers to
buy one together.
Il is an easy matter to test your soil
and 1t takes but very little time. A
nickeps worth of blue litmus paper
obtained at your drug store will be
sufficient to make tests on every part OF
your farm. Find out whether or not
your land is acid. II 1t Is acid, few
tons Of ground limestone will prove
profitable investment. It Is time and
energy wasted to try to have q sour soil
produce maximum yields, even when
manure or other fertilizers are applied.
A sour soil tends to make plant food
unavailable to crops and 1t hiuders the
development of the nitrogen-axing
bacteria In the soil. Lining, where
necessary, will make plant food more
readily available, will foster the develop
ment Of the nitrogen.fxing bacteria in
the soil, and will benefit the soil gener-
ally.-A. d. Neumsn In Hoard's Dairy
man.
Urging Standard Pack.
Hardly q fruit meeting Of any kind
goes by but what some practical author
Ity urges greater attention to the stand
ardization OF the fruit pack. Aud we'll
he may. II there 10 any one thing which
will help fruit growers to get better