144 TOBACCO LEAF. 



use of air-slaked lime only, while others prefer to apply 

 it in a more caustic state. 



A favorite way is to dump the contents of a cask on 

 the plowed field, leaving it a few days to slake by the 

 influence of the moisture of the air and the soil ; if then 

 it is lumpy, sufficient water is added to reduce it to a 

 fine, dry powder, care being taken that it does not be- 

 come pasty. It is then scattered broadcast over the 

 field, after the manure has been applied. 



As in the case of manure, the best time to apply it 

 is in the fall, or if not done then, very early in the 

 spring. It absorbs the excessive water in the land, and 

 also assists in reducing coarse manure to the more con- 

 genial form of vegetable mold. Lime exists in large 

 quantities in wood ashes, and to a smaller extent iu cot- 

 tonhull ash, and some of the beneficial action of wood 

 ashes results from the lime. In leached ashes, which 

 are highly prized in some sections for grass lands, lime 

 is very abundant, and the effect produced is almost en- 

 tirely from the lime. Where it can be cheaply bought, 

 oyster-shell lime is particularly prized because of its fine 

 mechanical condition, and its use is on the increase. 



Sulphate of Lime, gypsum or plaster, is used to 

 some extent on tobacco, and at one time was highly 

 recommended. While the plants have the power of 

 obtaining lime from the plaster to some extent, its prin- 

 cipal function is that of an absorbent only. It takes up 

 water greedily, and has an affinity for ammonia, but 

 whether sufficient to prevent in part the liability of loss 

 of nitrogen by leaching is not demonstrated. Sulphate 

 of lime also has some influence upon the potash com- 

 pounds of the soil, setting the potash free from inert 

 combinations. For these reasons, about five hundred 

 pounds per acre have been used on light lands, especially 

 where a large quantity of organic matter is present. 

 But in the absence of tests to determine its value, the 



