212 3Iamiriiifj Grass Lands. 



ley. Wishing to try the effect of lime of varied character 

 and from different works, in 1850 I purchased 100 tons of 

 Derbyshire lime, 100 tons from Clithero and Chatburn in Lan- 

 cashire, and 50 tons from the Knottingley Works near Ponte- 

 fract in Yorkshire. The Knottingley lime is made from a 

 slaty stone, or stone which rises in the quarry in layers of 

 various thickness : it is rather yellow in colour, and, according to 

 an analysis which I have seen, contains magnesia and a little sand. 

 The lime from Clithero and Chatburn is rather blue ; the Derby- 

 shire or Buxton lime whiter, and of lighter specific gravity, than 

 the other limes. It should be here observed that, from my own 

 experience and the practice I had seen on a great extent of old 

 grass-land in the district of Craven, in Yorkshire, I had begun 

 to allow the lime to become to a certain extent effete, or in a 

 damp powdery state, before spreading it on the land. 



llie lime from the different places last mentioned was used on 

 very old turf, naturally not quite so poor as the 108 acres last 

 mentioned. The quantity used was 8 tons to the acre, as in the 

 former experiment. 



The land was in slightly convex ridges, about 20 feet wide. 

 We commenced with Buxton lime, and covered one ridge with 

 Buxton and one with Clithero alternately, until 50 tons of each 

 had been used. We then began with the Knottingley Hme, cover- 

 ing ridge for ridge with the different sorts. All the different 

 limes have produced a most beneficial effect. The mossy and 

 moorland benty grasses have disappeared, and the surface is now 

 fine and green, with better herbage, including white clover and 

 cow-grass. A stranger walking over the land could, I think, 

 scarcely detect any difference on the ridges ; but there is one 

 fact in favour of the Buxton lime — it falls to powder in less time 

 than the limes from Clithero or Knottingley. The most im- 

 portant fact is yet to record: in 1855 the receipts from cattle in 

 this public pasture were G20Z. 



Lime, by small farmers, or persons not using it on a large 

 scale, is frequently made into compost with any soil or refuse 

 about the farm ; but, as a general practice, I do not consider it 

 an advantageous mode of applying lime. Under some circum- 

 stances, however, cohesive material thiown out of drains may 

 be mixed with lime to good purpose. 



In the year 1845 a gentleman purchased several hundred acres 

 of land in small farms, all lying in a district of country about 600 

 feet above the level of the sea, neither the land nor its oc- 

 cupants being in a position to help one another. But the gentle- 

 man * wishing to see the land of his early days wear a more 



* E. Buckley, Esq., M.P. for Newcastle. 



