38 SUGAR BEET 



SATURATED LIME. 



The raw juice extracted from the beet 

 pulp contains organic impurities which 

 have to be removed. To do this both 

 lime and carbonic acid are used, and after 

 the operation they form a precipitate 

 containing about 33 per cent, of carbon- 

 ate of lime in a most active state. This 

 carbonate, called saturated lime, is in 

 itself a very valuable manure, its effect 

 being to increase the assimilative power 

 of the soil. It has, moreover, a chemical 

 as well as a mechanical action, the pre- 

 sence of the lime quickening the decom- 

 position of the organic and inorganic 

 elements of the soil. 



The saturated lime contains, besides 

 carbonate of lime, a large proportion of 

 the organic matters originally absorbed 

 by the sugar beet, chiefly potassium and 

 phosphoric acid, and on that account its 

 use as a manure is strongly advocated. 



Saturated lime is of course mostly 

 recommended for use on heavy land, its 

 effect, entirely mechanical then, being 

 to render the soil more friable and there- 

 fore lighter to work. 



