638 J o II r}ial of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Oct.. 191-'. 



An application of lime will often save laliour and loss from insect 

 pest.s. killing the larvge of cutworms, caterpillars, grasshoppers. &c. It 

 is likewise to some extent a fungicide, and though not a cure for the disease 

 known as blue mould, acts more or less as a preventive. Weeds of the 

 most trouble.some kind, .such as sorrel, will not grow w^here lime is plentiful 

 in the soil, another important consideration in tobacco-growing, where weeds 

 must be kept out of the plot. Clovers and trefoils always grow more pro- 

 fusely after liming practices are adopted, and very beneficial results 

 follow. Tobacco is, as a rule, har\ested in the early autumn, and if the 

 trefoils grow well during the winter, they act as a catch rotation crop, sup- 

 plving humus to the soil, and releasing potash and phosphoric acid, in 

 arldition to storing up nitrogen in the soluble form. Experience proves 

 that tobacco in Victoria, and elsewhere, when grown in soils containing large 

 amounts of lime, matures from four to eight weeks earlier than when grown 

 in sour land. Quickly-grown tobacco leaf is generally of better quality, 

 and naturally labour' is .saved in keeping down weeds and in.sect pests, and 

 the risk of loss l:)v frost, hail, &c:., diminished. 



'J"he different forms of lime procurable have somewhat different effects 

 en tobacco soils. Where heavy swamp land or peaty soils are cultivated, 

 the use of builders' lime, " burnt lime,"' will be found most advantageous. 

 Too much rough, organic matter in the shape of undecomposed roots, weeds, 

 tv:c.. has the effect of causing the tobacco to grow rank, and with too great 

 a nicotine content. The builders' lime applied at the rate of from 5 

 cwt. to 10 cwt. per acre in the autumn w-ill assist in decomposing this 

 excess of vegetable matter, and render the soil sweeter and better fitted to 

 produce good quality leaf. On clay or silty soils, the burnt lime also is 

 desirable, as it improves the temperature in cold soils, and makes them more 

 friable and open. On .sandy loams, gypsum, "sulphate of lime," gives 

 good results, as also on chocolate soils ; larger amounts, howe\'er, should 

 l)e used, from 10 cwt. to 2 tons, as its effects are not so pronounced as 

 those of the burnt lime. In all soils short of humus, gypsum is safer to 

 u.se than burnt lime, not having the caustic properties, and consequently 

 Jiot destroying the vegetable matter to the same extent. 



Ground limestone is a valuable form of lime for tobacco land, and is 

 more easily handled and applied than burnt lime. At the price, it will be 

 found no more expensive than burnt lime, although it is necessary to use 

 about twice the amount to obtain equal results ; it is also slower in its 

 effects. 



On the whole, I am of opinion tliat lime for tobacco land is of more 

 importance in Victoria, especially in the mountainous districts, than any 

 other treatment, and that it would pay to use it. I have no doubt what- 

 ever a larger crop of better quality would pay the cost of purchase and 

 application of, say, 10 cwt. per acre, twice over in one vear, and the 

 effect of the lime would be felt over three years at least. For the seed-beds 

 in which tobacco plants are raised, the use of lime as an insect and weed 

 <lestroyer would be found useful, but the application should be made at 

 least a month or six weeks before the seed is sown. Some of the best 

 tobacco leaf produced in America is grown on limestone country, contain- 

 ing as high as 17 per cent, lime, while it is used on all soils in which lime 

 is deficient. 



