124 



iujurious effect, but was wholly unable to account for it. When the 

 lime was placed out in open fields to slake, the spots occupied by the 

 heaps, even when the lime was removed very carefully and no ap- 

 preciable quantity was left behind, remained perfectly barren for two 

 or three subsequent years. Very frequently the crops to which the 

 lime was applied showed indications of an injurious action in a very 

 decided manner, and this influence always appeared more marked in wet 

 than in dry seasons. In fact, a wet season sometimes determined a 

 complete loss of the whole crop, especially when it happened to follow 

 immediately upon the application. Believing that a change in the kind 

 of lime employed would at least occasion no loss, Mr. McMurtrie was 

 induced to try a lime produced from stone taken from a quarry three or 

 four miles distant, and said to be particularly beneficial in its results. 

 This limestone was of very light gray color, somewhat resembling gran- 

 ite in appearance, and the lime produced from it, when thrown out in 

 heaps to slake, though rather dark at first, upon slaking changed to a 

 light buff-color. Its effects seemed to be almost directly opposite to 

 tfiose of the lime previously employed, and the difference between the 

 effects being so decidedly marked, it was considered of some impor- 

 tance to investigate the cause of this action by means of chemical analy- 

 sis. Samples of the limestone were therefore obtained and analyzed 

 with the following results: 



No. 1 is a sample of that producing the beneficial results. It was 

 obtained from a vein running across the farms of George Uadle and 

 Philip Eaub, near Oxford, and has the following composition : 



Moisture , 0.70 



Carbonate of lime 92. 61 



Carbonate of magnesia 0. 914 



Oxide of iron and alumina 9. 06 



Silica 3. 75 



100. 034 



No. 2 "was obtained from the quarries of Mr. A. Depue Roseberry, 

 near Belvidere, and has the following composition : 



Moisture and organic matter 1. 30 



Silica 3.31 



Peroxide of iron and alumina , 2. 12 



Carbonate of lime 51. 20 



Carbonate of magnesia 42. 10 



Phosphoric acid trace. 



100. 03 



No. 3 was taken from the quarries of E. J. Mackey, located very near 

 the boundary of Belvidere. The analysis resulted as follows : 



Moisture and organic matter 1. 40 



Silica 2.13 



Peroxide of iron and alumina 0. 82 



Carbonate of lime 56. 80 



Carbonate of magnesia 38. 31 



Phosphoric acid Trace. 



99.46 



A glance at these analyses is sufficient to show that the deleterious 

 effects of the lime produced from the limestone from the quarries rep- 

 resented by Nos. 2 and 3 are due to the high percentage of magnesia 

 they contain, and that the beneficial effects of the other lime is due to 

 ■ the absence of this constituent. 



Many agricultural chemists acknowledged as authorities fail, in their 



