FERTILIZERS. 63 



It is adapted to all soils that have not already a sufficient supply of lime. It is 

 especially adapted to grass and clover. The clay marl produces the best effect on light, sandy 

 soils, and the sandy marl on clay and heavy soils. It is better to be well exposed to the sun 

 and air before applying it to any kind of soil. The green sand marl, of which there are 

 extensive beds in New Jersey, contains a large amount of potash, besides lime, magnesia, 

 sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, silica, and various other substances, and is a valuable fertili 

 zer. It has long been a staple manure in that State, where it occurs in three distinct depos 

 its, the upper, middle, and ,lower marl beds, which stretch across the State from the High 

 lands of Navesink, near Sandy Hook, to the Delaware River, below Wilmington, and in many 

 localities is easily excavated. It seems especially adapted to the use of vegetation as plant- 

 food, its application having a speedy effect. The result of its use is seen in a remarkable 

 degree in the improvement of the light, sandy soils of Eastern New Jersey, where large tracts 

 of sandy and almost worthless lands have been transformed into a garden. It must be 

 applied in large quantities, often several tons to the acre, in order to obtain the best results, 

 and then furnishes potash and other fertilizing properties with a considerable degree of 

 permanency. 



Lime. Lime is manufactured from limestone, marble, and shells, by burning or sub 

 jecting them to intense heat, which expels the carbonic acid. After this acid has been driven 

 off by calcination, it has great affinity for water and carbonic acid, and readily combines with 

 both, on exposure to either water, earth, or the atmosphere ; in the latter case it is said to be 

 &quot;air-slacked.&quot; 



With respect to the manner and extent of benefiting soils by the application of lime, 

 there exists among the farmers of the present day a difference of opinion, some claiming it 

 to be of no appreciable value whatever; others, that it acts, not only as a fertilizer, but 

 by its chemical action upon some of the constituent elements of the soil, renders them more 

 available as plant-food ; in other words , it unlocks the stores of rich plant-food, which by the 

 mechanical condition of the soil are locked up beyond the reach of the plant- roots, and hence 

 are useless to them. 



Lime enters into the composition of nearly all crops, and when not found in sufficient 

 quantities in the soil, will prove a valuable fertilizer; but most soils contain in themselves a 

 fair proportion of lime for the production of most crops, yet, as has been previously stated, 

 the quantity sufficient for the present requirements of the plant, may not be available; hence 

 experiment alone, as is the case with most fertilizers, will best prove to the farmer whether 

 his lands will be benefited by its use or not. Its application hastens the decay of vegetable 

 substances contained in the soil, and converts them into available plant-food, and by its 

 chemical action upon the coarser particles of the soil, causes them to become broken up and, 

 in a measure, pulverized, thus setting free the mineral properties therein contained, and 

 which are so essential to vegetation. When not contained in any soil in sufficient quantity, 

 it can be applied separately, or combined with sulphuric acid, in the form of gypsum or plas 

 ter; and since these two ingredients lime and sulphuric acid wash out of the soil more 

 readily and freely than most of the other constituents, it must be frequently applied to make 

 up the constant loss of these elements, and keep the soil supplied with the requisite amount. 



A farmer of large experience says, he knows of a farm that has not had a bushel of lime 

 applied to it in twenty years, and it is now infested with sorrel; previous to this time, lime 

 was used upon it, and it was very productive ; he draws the natural conclusion, that lime 

 would prove a remedy for the evil. We think he argues correctly, and that all such lands 

 as will produce sorrel and other weeds better than the common farming products, will be 

 greatly improved by the application of lime, which corrects the acidity of the soil, and ren 

 ders it suited to the production of more valuable crops. It also is very beneficial in destroy 

 ing many noxious insects and worms that injure the roots of plants. Allen says of it : 

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