MANURES. 67 



top dressing of lime will rectify the evil, and improve both the 

 quantity and the quality of the grain. 



All old pastures and grass lands may be improved by the 

 application of lime or ashes, as a top dressing. Our western 

 prairies, long cropped, will improve by liming. As we have 

 said, when the soil is acid, a liberal supply of lime will destroy 

 the acidity, and thus supply food for plants. It may be applied 

 to potatoes, and other root crops, on almost any soil, with good 

 efiect. If lime is needed, and is near at hand, supply it bounti- 

 fully, but if lime is not plenty, apply a few bushels, say ten or 

 fifteen each year, rather than a large amount at once. None of 

 it will then be lost. The heavier the soil, (except when wet,) 

 the larger the quantity of lime that may be sown. On light 

 and sandy soils, the application of ten or fifteen bushels per 

 acre once in five years, alternating with the plowing under of 

 green crops, is often all the manuring that is necessary to keep 

 them in fertility, although an occasional dressing of barnyard 

 manure, well composted with muck, is still better. A few cau- 

 tions are necessary in regard to the use of lime. Do not apply 

 water too fixst when slacking. Do not use uuslacked lime. 

 Keep it near the surface. Mix it well with the soil by harrow- 

 ing. When applied to growing crops, be careful not to bring 

 it in contact with the leaves or stems. Sprinkle it thinly all 

 about the plants, and not in small heaps. 



Gas lime, which is often thrown away and wasted at the works, 

 is the most valuable of all fertilizers. In compost with strawey 

 manure, or mixed with barnyard manure when it is applied to 

 the soil, it is better than fresh lime, as it comes from the puri- 

 fiers powdered and highly charged with a;nmonia. 



Gypsum, Plaster of Paris, Sulphate of Lime ; substan- 

 tially the same article under three different names, is an im- 

 portant addition to our already large list of fertilizers. 



