38B A<u EJfaj on Ume. 0(?^; 



tainable) much money is ufclefsly expended, and much la- 

 bour beftowed, uhich, under the direiSlion of better infor- 

 mation, might be favcd. The principal error of our farmers, 

 confifts in fuppofing lime to poflefs fertilizing qualities in it- 

 fejf; and that, without operating upon tlie foil, or the fub- 

 flances it meets there, it is an enriching manure. Chemiftry 

 lias difcovered no other principle in limellone, but calcareous 

 earth kept together by fixt air, with the addition of clay ia 

 fome inftances, and fand in others. Mr Anderfon of Aber- 

 deen{hire fays, ". Lime Can have no manure within itfelf ; 

 but operates only as an alterative or ftimulus to other ma- 

 nures." 



\n this place, I am ferry to differ in opinion with Mr An- 

 derfon, to whofe difquifition I am in a great meafure indebt- 

 ed for the little knowledge 1 have of its nature ; as to its ope- 

 ration, I fpeak from experience and obfervation. In Vol. I. 

 p. 484, Mr Anderfon fr.^\s, " Calcareous matters a£l as power- 

 fully upon land that is naturally poor, as upon land that is 

 more richly impregnated with thofe fubftances that tend to 

 produce a luxuriant vegetation." If Mr Anderfon meant 

 barren moor land, that has never been in a ftate of cultiva-* 

 tion, covered with bent, heath, lyng,- and other vegetables, 

 I agfee with him ; but not upon poor foils that have been long 

 in tillage. 



Mr Anderfon further obferves, " "Writers upon agriculture 

 have been long in the habit of dividing manures into two 

 clafTes, viz. i. Enriching manures, or fuch as tend to render 

 the foil more proUfic, however fterile it may formerly have 

 been ; of this clafs, dung holds the firft rank. 2. Exciting 

 manures, or fuch as are fuppofed to have a tendency to ren- 

 der the foil more prolific, merely by adding upon thofe en- 

 riching-' manures that ,had been formerly thrown into it, and, 

 for want of a proper ftimulus, had remained dormant." Lime 

 is unqueftionably the foremoft of this clafs. With this doc- 

 trine niv own experience in a great meafure agrees ; as every 

 obfervation I have made, confirms my behef of its being a fti- 

 mulus only. The fame author further obferves, " That, in 

 confequence of this theory, it would follow, that lime would 

 only.be of ufe as a manure, when laid upon rich foils; and 

 that, when it was applied to poor lands, it could produce no 

 good, and in many inltances hurtful eiiects." — " 1 will frank- 

 ly acknowledge," fays he, « that I myfelf was fo much im- 

 pofed upon by the beauty of .this theory, as to be hurried 

 along with the current, in the firm perfuafion of the truth of 

 this obfen^ation ; and for many years did not fufHciently ad- 

 vert 



/ 



