Wild and Anderson. — Absorption of Lime by Soils. 



467 



Part I. — Practical Test of the Method. 



This part includes a brief summary of trie results already published* by 

 one of us in the Journal of Agricultural Science (which periodical is not 

 generally available to New Zealand readers), together with some additional 

 matter. 



In the summer of 1915-16 a soil-collecting tour was made in South- 

 land, and a large number of pairs of adjacent limed and unlimed soils was 

 obtained. Southland is a district where the farmers have no doubt as to 

 the efficacy of linie — in fact, in some districts it is impossible to farm with- 

 out it. The practice of liming was first introduced by the New Zealand 

 Land Company on their Edendale Estate about 1890, after which the 

 custom rapidly became popular. An excellent account of the history and 

 practical methods of liming is given by W. D. Hunt in the New Zealand 

 Journal of Agriculture for August, 1916. 



In the following table we give the lime requirements indicated for pairs 

 of adjacent limed and unlimed soils, together with the amount of lime 

 put on, and the date of application. The conditions of experiment were : 

 Weight of soil, 10 grammes ; time of treatment, three to four hours ; 

 strength of bicarbonate solution, 0-02 normal. 



Table I. — The Lime Requirements of some Adjacent Limed and Unlimed 



Southland Soils. 



Out of these results the following conclusions emerge : (1) That an 

 application of lime to a soil in the field is reflected in a diminution of the 

 lime requirement, as indicated by the method under consideration ; (2) that 

 the diminution in the indicated lime requirement is not commensurate 

 with the amount of lime added ; (3) since practical experience shows 

 that the applications of lime recorded above were sufficient to convert 



* L. J. Wild, On some Soils of the South Island of New Zealand, with Special 

 Reference to their Lime Requirements, Journ. Ag. Sci., vol. 8, 1917. 



