NINETEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IX 481 



Limestone may be purchased from the firms listed at the end of this 

 circular. 



AMOUNT OF LIME TO USE. 



The amount of lime to use depends upon the extent of the acidity and 

 the quality of the limestone. No definite amount can be recommended 

 for all soils as the lime requirement will vary from less than one ton 

 to more than seven tons per acre. Farmers should have their soils tested 

 in the manner already suggested and supply the proper amount of lime- 

 stone, as shown by the test. 



There are no data that indicate just how often lime should be applied 

 to soils, therefore, farmers are urged to have their fields tested every four 

 or five years to determine whether lime is needed. 



TIME TO APPLY LIMESTONE. 



Ground limestone or limestone screenings may be applied at any time 

 the land is being prepared for a crop without injury to that crop or to 

 the soil. For best results it should be well worked into the surface soil, 

 but never plowed under. The most desirable time is, perhaps, in the 

 fall on plowed ground. Limestone may be spread on cornstalk land in 

 either the winter or early spring and disked in when the seed bed is pre- 

 pared for the following oat crop. It is often desirable to make applica- 

 tions of lime one or two years before seeding clover, for in this way the 

 lime becomes well incorporated with the soil and conditions made more 

 desirable for the growth of the clover crop. 



If potatoes are grown, limestone should be applied following the re- 

 moval of this crop as there is a tendency for lime to favor the growth 

 of potato scab. 



METHOD OF APPLYING LIMESTONE. 



Limestone may be conveniently applied with the manure spreader, pro- 

 viding a layer of soil or manure is placed on the bottom of the spreader 

 before loading the stone. The beater chain may be removed, the apron 

 run slowly and only a thin layer of stone allowed to spread. The speed 

 of the apron and amount of stone distributed to the acre will need to be 

 judged in each individual case as this will be governed by the condition of 

 the stone, make of spreader and size of the load. 



Spreading the material from a wagon by means of a shovel may be 

 found satisfactory for small areas, although there is usually an uneven 

 distribution of the lime. 



ALL CROPS DO NOT NEED LIME, 



Many experiments have been conducted to determine whether all crops 

 need applications of lime. From the results of these experiments it has 

 been found that some crops are not injured by the presence of acids in 

 the soil, as for example, potatoes, redtop, hairy vetch, rye and alsike clover. 



Inasmuch as most ordinary farm crops are benefited by lime, applica- 

 tions of this material may be safely made on all cultivated soils. 



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