LIME. 75 



ON LIME AS MANURE. 



Though lime has been used for ages as a manure, 

 there are thousands who shut their eyes to the testi- 

 mony of the most enlightened nations, and in their 

 pretended contempt for " book-farming," affect to 

 know more about the matter than those who are ex- 

 perienced and know from practice. I do not believe 

 every idle tale concerning the efficacy of lime, nor do 

 I believe that it acts on the soil in every respect as 

 others believe ; yet there cannot be the shadow of a 

 doubt that its proper application ameliorates the soil, 

 as was taught by the ancient Roman writers of cele- 

 brity. Like marl, lime binds the sandy and renders 

 more porous the clayey soil, attracting moisture at the 

 same time from the atmosphere. My object, in wri- 

 ting upon the subject, is not so much to extol its 

 merits as a manure^ as to describe its merits in a true 

 light. 



There are two kinds of lime used as a manure for 

 land. The first is procured by burning oyster shells, 

 and the second by burning limestone in a kiln. The 

 first is by far the best, inasmuch as it is much finer, 

 purer, and acts more rapidly on the soil than the Oth- 

 er. 



The oyster shell lime is adapted to every soil, pro* 

 vided the soil is not too low and wet. Lime acts, as be- 

 fore observed, by absorbing moisture from the atraos- 



