No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 371 



axle passing through the box aud furnishing a fairly good force 

 feed. Old mower wheels were used for this spreader aud it gave 

 good satisfaction. Some grain drills with fertilizer attachments 

 are capable of applying five hundred to one thousand pounds of 

 lime per acre, but I think most men fail to get such results from 

 their drills, aud as I have said the thing to do is to purchase lime 

 spreaders that will apply any amount from a few hundred pounds 

 to a ton or two of lime per acre. The easiest way to make lime 

 applications is none too good. 



Lime should not be plowed down. The old way was to apply one 

 to two hundred bushels of lime per acre on the sod and let it lie for 

 months and then plow it down. In the case of such heavy applica- 

 tions the more waste the better for the land, but when lime costs 

 several dollars a ton, the right way is to get the greatest possible 

 effectiveness out of it and that means working the lime into the sur- 

 face of the soil after the land has been broken for the crop. The 

 tendency of lime always is downward. In much of our land the sub- 

 gioil will be found to be richer in lime than the top soil. Do not 

 plow lime down, but bring it into contact with the free acid in the 

 top soil. Let it become mixed with the top soil and make it sweet. 



V\'e often are asked whether lime will increase the yield of corn 

 and wheat and other crops. If land is sour, containing harmful 

 acid the sweetening of that land with lime will result in increased 

 yield of almost any staple product, but we do not urge any one to 

 apply lime for the sake of increase in yield of corn, wheat and sim- 

 iliar crops. We wish the farmer to take a different view-point. If 

 his land is in an unhealthy state and lime will put it into a condition 

 friendly to plants, the thing to do is to correct that soil with lime 

 and when that has been done he should have in mind first the pro- 

 duction of a heavy clover sod. The increase in yield of wheat or 

 corn is incidental. The vital thing is to make the land friendly to 

 all plants and especially to clover, because in most farm crop rota- 

 tions clover is fundamental, and continued productiveness of the soil 

 depends largely upon it. As clover usually is seeded either with 

 oats or wheat, the lime may be drilled into the ground while pre- 

 I)aring the seed bed for oats or for wheat. If the farmer prefers, 

 he can drill the lime into the ground when prejjaring land for corn, 

 although I am sure that a larger amount per acre will be necessary 

 than when applying the lime immediately previous to the seeding 

 to clover. 



Now, Mr. Chairman, I have tried to impress these facts: The 

 tendency of soils is toward lime deficiency. Limestone soils them- 

 selves gradually lose some available lime. Maximum crops can 

 be obtained only from alkaline soils. As lands grow old we shall 

 be compelled to apply more and more lime to keep the soil sweet 

 and we can get that lime out of stone lime, pulverized or slaked lime 

 or finely pulverized limestone. The day will come when we will 

 realize that the Creator placed beds of limestone in our lands for 

 the benefit of humanity'-, just as He placed the coal beds. Just as 

 coal is an accumulation of material for the benefit of the human race 

 so is our liuK^stoue an accumulation of material (o satisfy deficien- 

 cies that will continue more and more to occur in our tillable soils 

 as long as the earth stands. If there were no supplies of lime we 

 probably could look forward only to the day when our soils would 

 be rank with poisonous acids and wholly unfriendly to plant life. 



