The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1920-01-26
The Use OF Lime
Pays Big Returns

$3.50 net profit per acre every
year with wheat and corn and hay
at present prices once in four years
will return in increased corn yields
according to experiments made at
Maryland and several other State
Experiment Stations. In Maryland
the yield of corn was increased six
hushel per acre, of wheat six and
one-third bushels and of hay three
fourth of abtton by the use of lime.
At the Ohio Experiment Station the
use of lime once in five years has
resulted in a profit of z29 per cent.
from the value of increased crop
yields. In Dorchester County there
is plenty of evidence that equal re-
suits can be secured from the use
OF lime and still there are thousands
of acres that-covered with sedge
grass, sickly looking clover or sorrel,
point out the possibilities of more
profit from the regular use Of lime.
What Lime Does In The Soil
Lime has been called the Key to
Soil Fertility Building" and it is
true that lime unlocks the rich
stores of Potash and other plant
food in our heavy soils and decay
ing vegetable matter in the soil
II also improves the condition Of
the soil by loosening heavy clays
and letting in the air and water
while light sands are to some ex,
tent cemented together and made tC
hold moisture and plant food for q
longer time, Red Glover, Alfalfa
and other plants belonging to this
family Sc lime as a plant food sc
that in these cases it becomes ar
actual fertilizer. The greatest
benefit from lime however comes
from it's effect in overcoming the
acid condition which every sol
sooner or later reaches because Of
decaying manures and crops ploweC
under.
When land is in this acid con
dition it is impossible to get good
stand of clover but with plenty Of
lime present this difficulty is done
away with and heavy clover sods
are easily grown. When we stoI
to think that a good stand of clover
will often add from forty to sixty
POUNDS of nitrogen to the acre
worth, at present prices of fertilizer
from eleven to sixteen dollars we
can easily see the value of an ap.
plication of lime.
What Crops Need Lime
Almost all of our staple farm
crops will respond to the use OF
lime where this element is lacking
i'll the soil. Corn, Wheat, Glover
OF all kinds, Alfalfa, Cow Peas, AS
paragus, Lettuce, Cabbage, Celery
Canteloupes and Onions are all
crops that need lime. Tomatoes
and potatoes do best on land that
has been lined one or two years be-
watermelons like an acid soil and
the injured by heavy application
of lime. The man who buys high
prived clover or alfalfa seed and
sOws it in sour land is getting the
cart before the horse and sending
good money after bad. If he will
first lime and then sow the soil inn
proving clover, which add nitrogen
and humus in the shape Of heavy
sods, he is on the highway to per-
nanent soil improvement and farm
profits. 1t is usual to build the
foundation of house first and then
put up the walls, soil building is a
similar proposition.
Forms OfLime
There are usually three forms OF
lime on the market. These are raw
burned lime, hydrated lime and
ground lime and ground stone OF
ground shell lime. Dorchester
County farmers are lucky in having
che of the best sources of lime in
the shell piles at every oyster
house in the County.
Raw burned lime is the most con-
centrated form with hydrated lime
coming next and ground stone OIL
shell last. Hydrated lime is the re
suit of adding about one-third its
weight in water to fresh burned lime
which cause it to slaked and absorb
the water. Ground stone or shell
lime is the form to which all lime
returns after air shaking and alb
sorbing all the water it is capable OF
holding,
All forms of lime are valuable
because of the amount of a chemical
called Calcium Oxide, which they
contain, 1900 pounds of raw burned
lime, 1900 of hydrated lime or 1000
pounds of ground stone lime Will
contain about the same amount OF
this chemical. That is on a field
that needs 1000 pounds OF ground
limestone you need to apply only
1900 pounds of hydrated lime OF
1900 pounds of fresh burned lime in
order to get the same results.
The value of ground limestone
depends on the f1neness with which
ii is ground. Where man applied
ton or less once every four years
he should insist that all the ground
stone will pass through a sieve hav-
ing sixty meshes to the inch, but
where two or tire tons are applied
once in six to ten years a coarser
and consequently cheaper lime may
be used. If it will all pass through
a screen having ten meshes to the
inch there will be nough Of the fine
lime present to give immediate re-
suits, and the coarser lime will be
available as it is needed.
Kind OF Lime To Use
The best kind of lime to use de-
Ponds Largely on the price per ton or
unit as experiments have shown that
there is not much difference between
the different form in their effect on
cops.
Ground stone is frequently the
cheapest bue where freight charges
are high and haulS long and labor
scarce, either hydrated or raw
burned may be cheaper because of
the less number of pounds to pay
freight on and handle. In figuring
the cost applied to the field we must
remember that it requires almost
two pounds of ground limestone to
produce the same results as one
pound of raw burned lime. This
latter must of course be piled in the