33G EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



"Lime exerts a decided influence on the mechanical condition of soils, rendering 

 heavy, compact soils looser in texture ;ind tending to hind particles of loose leachy 

 soils. 



"Lime is also beneficial in furnishing conditions in the soil favorable to the activ- 

 ity of tin- micro-organisms which convert the nitrogen of organic matter into nitrates 

 which are readily assimilated by plants, which decompose organic matter, and which 

 assist leguminous plants to assimilate the free nitrogen of the air. . . . 



"The continued use of lime unaccompanied by other fertilizers may prove inju- 

 rious, especially on poor soils, since it converts the insoluble nitrogen, potash, and 

 phosphoric-acid compounds of the soil into forms which are rapidly taken up by 

 plants or washed out in the drainage, and thus hastens the exhaustion of the supply 

 of these substances in the soil. If the soil is not abundantly supplied with organic 

 matter, its retentive power for water and fertilizers may be seriously reduced on 

 account of the destruction of the organic matter by the action of too much lime. 

 Soils are sometimes injured by applications of impure forms of lime, which harden 

 like cement in the soil, or of those which contain an excessive amount of magnesia. 



" It has been shown that even many upland and naturally well-drained soils 

 apparently in good condition otherwise are so sour (acid) that most plants will not 

 thrive on them. The application of caustic lime is the most economical and effective 

 means of correcting this condition. 



"According to experiments made by the Rhode Island Experiment Station on acid 

 soils in that State, the plants tested may be classified with regard to their behavior 

 toward lime as follows: Plants benefited by liming — spinach, lettuce, beets (all 

 kinds), gumbo (okra), salsify (vegetable oyster), celery, onion, parsnip, cauliflower, 

 cucumber, eggplant, cantaloupe, asparagus, kohl-rabi, cabbage, dandelion, Swedish 

 turnip, pepper, pea, peanut, martynia, tobacco, sorghum, alfalfa, clover, barley, 

 wheat, oats, timothy, and Kentucky bluegrass; plants injured by liming — serradella, 

 watermelon, blue lupine, and common sorrel (Humes acetosella) ; plants indifferent 

 to liming — Indian corn, common millet, Hungarian, golden millet, rye, potatoes, 

 carrots, Rhode Island bent (grass), and redtop (grass)." 



Commercial fertilizers, M. A. Scovell, A. M. Peter, and H. E. 

 Curtis {Kentucky Sta. Bui. 75, pp. 77-94). — This bulletin gives the text 

 of the amended State fertilizer law, which went into effect March 14, 

 189S, with a brief discussion of the amendments; and tabulated analy- 

 ses and valuations of 102 samples of fertilizing materials inspected 

 during 1898. 



"The new law requires manufacturers to make affidavit to the director [of the 

 experiment station] guaranteeing the minimum analysis of each brand of fertilizer 

 which they propose to sell in the State, and the director shall print this guaranteed 

 analysis over his facsimile signature in the form of a tag, and every package of fer- 

 tilizer sold or offered for sale in the State shall have one of these tags attached, and 

 this tag analysis shall be the standard by which the fertilizer is to be judged. The 

 tag shall also show the net weight of fertilizer contained in each package. The man- 

 ufacturer also sends to the director a fair sample of each kind of fertilizer which he 

 proposes to put on sale. The director is given authority to take samples for analysis 

 from any fertilizer on sale in the State, and is required to make every year at least 

 one analysis of each kind of fertilizer that has been entered for sale. The law also 

 provides that any purchaser of a fertilizer, who is not an agent or dealer, may take 

 a sample of the same, under proper regulations, and have it analyzed at the station 

 free, and such purchaser shall not be required to give the name of the fertilizer or 

 of the person from whom it was bought until after the analysis has been made and 

 reported. But after the purchaser has received the report of analysis he must give 

 the director all information about the fertilizer that may be required for publication 



