214 FARMER'S ASSISTANT, 



Italy, when they conquered Britain, snd are supposed to 

 have first introduced it in that Island; tor, although the 

 Summers of the latter Country are much moister and 

 cooler than ours; still those of the former are nearly as 

 warm, and perhaps full as dry, as the average of Summer- 

 weather here. 



And if lime enables crops the better to withstand 

 droughts, which are often more severe here than in Britain, 

 this would seem to be an additional reason for its use, as a 

 manure, in this Country. 



Lime is also of singular use in producing a high degree 

 of fermentation, in all soils which require it; and this is 

 essential to their productiveness, in every country and 

 climate. 



Th British Writer to whom we have just refered says, 

 however, that experience has shown that lime will not re- 

 store lands which have been completely worn out by con- 

 stant crops of grain. He therefore supposes lime to be 

 merely calculated to bring certain principles into action, 

 which were previously possessed by the soil, and which are 

 probably lost when thus exhausted by severe croping. But 

 again he says, that all lands are benefited by lime, < which 

 can be refreshed by grass, or enriched by dung.' 



We have thus far given the Reader the substance of what 

 we find in the latest and best British Publications on lime, 

 as a manure: But, from information we derive from Dr. 

 Mease, of Philadelphia, we are enabled more particularly 

 to state the quantity proper for an acre in this Country ; and 

 also that which has been found most efficacious, as a ma- 

 nure, in Pennsylvania. 



We have mentioned two hundred and forty bushels to the 

 acre, as being the allowance for clay-soils in Greatbritain ; 

 but we are induced to believe that where so much is appli- 

 ed, in that Country, it must be of lime made from chalk, 

 which is much weaker than that made of limestone. 



Forty bushels to the acre is about the usual allowance of 

 lime of this latter description on the lands of Pennsylvania, 

 which are commonly a loam mixed with more or less of 

 either sand or gravel. It is also found that the lands which 

 have there been previously limed, are more powerfully 

 stimulated by the application of gypsum, than those to 

 which lime has not been recently applied. 



Under EARTHS, we have mentioned that, in Greatbritain, 

 lime which has the most magnesia in it is accounted the 

 least valuable ; but, in Pennsylvania, it is found the most 

 efficacious. 



The quality possessed by lime, of producing a great de- 

 gree of fermentation, renders it of singular use in making 

 composts. These are frequently made, in Greatbritain, 



