Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-08-11
BY DIR. ANDREW M. SOULE

/ Ia material that was formerly the
oxide or hydrate form, but has been
| changed to the carbonate by eX-
posture to the air is powdered and
ready to use. Lime oxide and lime
! hydrate are sold by all dealers in
! building materials.
! Many farmers have lime material
| near their farms, and, in some Ia
| stances, it will be profitable for
! them to burn or grind their own ma
| terial. Several farmers can buy a
! small grinder comparatively. Small
! grinders suitable for such purposes
| can be bought for from $500 to ST.
400 and produce the ground lime
stone for about S2.1O per ton.
Ordinary limestone is chiefly made
up of what is chemically known as
| calcium carbonate. Dolmite or dolo-
mite limestones contain both cal
cium carbonate and magnesium car
Donate frequently in nearly equal
quantities. At one time it was
thought that magnesium carbonate
might have a toxic or injurious eff
feet. Liter studies have shown that
! it would take some twenty tons per
acre to have any i'll effect. For this
reason and the fact that "a pounds
of magnesium carbonite will neu-
traliZe as much acid as 100 pounds
Of calcium carbonate, it appears that
| there are no grounds for discrimi
mating against dolOmitic limestone.
Gypsum. sometimes called ''land
plaster" is material that may be
confused with agricultural lime.
While it has some value when ap.
piled TO the SOL, it contains only one
third as much lime as lime oxide and
usually costs as much or more per
| ton. The manufacturers of gypsum
claim That it is of value in that it
| furnishes plants with sulphur. Acid
phosphate is practically half gYp-
sum and is so generally used that it
supplies a great abundance of SUI
phur. For general crops under Geor-
ga conditions, the use of gypsum
does not pay.
Probably the most common Ques-
ton that arises as to the use Of ag-
ricultural lime is what form is best
to apply. This will be determined
by which form will give the. greatest
Acknowledging or sweetening pow
err for a dollar invested. Tests show
that ] ,120 pounds of lime oxide dump
lime). 1,4S0 pounds of lime hydrate
and one ton of lime carbonate are
equivalent in sweetening power pro
v.ded they are Of the proper purity
and fineness. Since practically all
inlp6rities are removed in the manu-
facture of lime oxide and lime hY-
L, - ie-t n
in powdered form and lime oxide is
reduced to powdered form before APP
plying to land, the consideration of
purity and fineness applies only to
lime carbonate. When the delivered
price on each form is known, by TAX
ing into consideration the relative
sweetening power, the most econom-
'ical form can be determined.
The value of lime carbonate de-
ponds on purity and fineness. The
per cent of total carbonate is the per
cent purity.
Fineness is important s'nce coarse
w ground material has much less
sweetening power than an eGuai
weight of finely ground material
This is due to finely ground parti-
cles having much greater surface
area for tie soil mo sture to act upon
than has an equal weight of coarse
" ground particles. 1t is probably
that material which will not pass a
twenty mesh sieve Cneshes per ILL
ear inch) will have little sweeten'
ing power and one which falls TO
pass a ten mesh sieve will have prac-
tically none.
To show that there is a wide
variation in the fineness of mate
rails now on the market in Georgia,
the percentages of eight different
brands of ground limestone passing
various sleeves las shown by analy-
SEES by the Georgia State College OF
Agriculture) is given.
With A definite rotation such as
corn, cotton and small grain follow
ed by q leguminous hay crop, or
cotton, corn and small grain fol
lowed by a leguminous hay crop
the hest practice is to apply the
lime ust preceding the leguminous
crop. A majority of legumes are
unfavorably affected by a sour
condition of the soil and respond
to lime to a greater extent thaIi
most CROPS. Furthermore, there IS
generally no lSIlulSI clpPAANu "ANA-
a leguminous crop which prevents
any possible injury of the fertilizer
by the lime.
Lime carbonate is not caustc
and may ne applied when Guilt
yated crop is growing if desired
although it is seldom advantageous.
r a box or end gate type of spread
er is used, it would of course he i'm
possible to apply where crop was
growing. Lime oxide and lime ny
drate are both caustic and should
never be applied to growing crops.
II applied at planting time, the
land should be narrowed immediate
ly after the application is made to
avoid possibly injury to the seed.
To apply lime before any particu-
lar crop, it should be done after
the land is plowed, as the winter
or spring for corn. cotton or pea
nuts. or in the fall for alfalfa or
small grain. If applied ploWing'
it may he buried more deeply than
desired
In using lime oxide dump limet
the material must be water-slakec
before applying to the land. To do
this, the lime is placed in piles Oh
level places. Water is gradually
poured on the lime at the rate OF