1906.] LIMING SOILS AND PLANTS. 75 



considerable areas in Connecticut that are similar to most of 

 the land in Rhode Island which led your Board of Agriculture 

 to ask me to tell you something of our various liming experi- 

 ments. 



It is with a peculiar sense of vindication that I have ac- 

 cepted your invitation to present this particular subject, for the 

 reason that many of my colleagues in New^ England were not 

 ready to believe, ten years ago, that our upland well-drained 

 soils were ever so acid and so greatly in need of lime that 

 profitable yields of certain crops and the greatest returns from 

 many of the commercial manures, were both impossible until 

 after resort to liming. It was claimed that lime had been 

 shown to be unnecessary in Massachusetts and that in all proba- 

 bility the need of lime in Rhode Island was confined merely to 

 the farm of the Experiment Station or immediately sur- 

 rounding areas. It is perhaps fortunate for the Rhode Island 

 Station that there were so many doubters, since in consequence 

 we had for several years a practically free field of investigation. 



It may be of interest to state that in the early Massachusetts 

 experiments to which reference has been made lime was ap- 

 plied in too small quantities per acre and Indian corn w^as em- 

 ployed in the tests ; a crop which is frequently injured by 

 liming. 



Believing that it will be of greater interest to hear the actual 

 story of our liming experiences than to listen to a pedagogically 

 arranged lecture on the subject of lime and liming, an endeavor 

 wall be made to trace the investigations step by step. 



It will be recalled that in the winter of 1889-90 Prof. 

 Atwater, at that time Director of the Office of Experiment 

 Stations in Washington, issued two plans in cooperative ex- 

 periments. One of these embraced an ordinary soil test and 

 also a test of the relative efficiency of nitrogen in dried blood, 

 sulphate of ammonia, and nitrate of soda. Like amounts of 

 nitrogen were employed in each instance for the " full rations." 

 As a measure of control check plats were introduced. These, 

 like those where the nitrogenous manures were applied, were 

 all manured uniformly w^ith muriate of potash, and dissolved 

 bone-black. All of the nitrogenous manures were applied in 

 " OMe-third," " two-third," and " full rations." The " one- 

 third ration " of sulphate of ammonia amounted to 120 pounds, 



