LIME. 



305 



LINUM. 



we have seen, partly mechanical and partly 

 chemical. They are mechanical, inasmuch 

 as by slaking the burnt lime can be reduced 

 to a much finer and more bulky powder 

 than the limestone could be by any 

 mechanical means ; and they are chemical, 

 inasmuch as by burning the lime is brought 

 into a more active and caustic state, and 

 is, at the same time, mixed with variable 

 proportions of sulphate and silicate of lime, 

 which may render it more useful to the 

 growing crops. " 



Benefits of Lime. It is not possible to 

 lay down any precise rule for the applica- 

 tion of lime as a manure, and the quantity 

 to be used must depend chiefly on the soil 

 itself and its special character. When 

 ground is first taken into cultivation it may 

 be applied in considerable quantities, but 

 on land that has been already utilised for 

 the production of crops it must not be used 

 so freely. On clay lands a plentiful ad- 

 mixture is beneficial, and on soils on which 

 much vegetable matter is dug in it is equally 

 serviceable. On light lands it must be 

 used but moderately, and even then it is 

 better to mix it with soil, turf in course of 

 disintegration, &c., so as to form a com- 

 post. The effect of lime is not immediately 

 apparent, but shows itself the second or 

 even third year after application. This, of 

 course, does not apply to its use for the 

 destruction of worms, slugs, grubs, &c. t 

 which promptly feel and acknowledge the 

 application of caustic lime and lime just 

 slaked. Stiff and heavy lands are lightened 

 and mellowed by its presence, and the 

 crops that are yielded by land judicious: y 

 limed are heavier, better, and earlier than 

 those which it produced before liming. 



Lime and Chief Varieties. 



Of the lime, 7'itia, the common variety 

 of which is Tilia- Europaa, there are T. 

 alba, the white-leaved and white-wooded 

 lime, and T. pendula, the weeping lime, 



both of which may be planted separately, 

 or interspersed with other trees with very 

 good effect. 



Linaria (nat. ord. Scrophularia'cese). 



The name of a genus of plants containing 

 many species, mostly annuals and peren- 

 nials. They will grow on rock work or in 

 any well-drained soil and position. Linaria 

 vulgaris, or the Common Toadflax, being 

 indigenous to Britain, and often found as a 

 trailer on old walls. It has a pretty, round^ 

 indented leaf and a lilac and yellow flower, 

 resembling that of a snapdragon in shape, 

 only very much smaller. They like a light 



LINARIA RETICULATA. 



soil and are easily propagated by seeds or 

 divisions of the plant. L. saxatilis is a 

 pretty trailing perennial with yellow flowers. 

 The sorts usually supplied by the seedsmen 

 as annuals are L. aurea reticulata, a dwarf, 

 bushy annual with small snapdragon-like 

 flowers, purple in colour, flecked with 

 gold ; L. bipartita splendida, a pot plant, 

 with red or purple flowers, and L. Alaroccana, 

 with dark, plum-coloured flowers. 



Li'num (nat. ord. Lina'ceae). 



A fine genus of annual and perennial 

 free-flowering plants, with blue, rose, 

 scarlet, or white flowers, among which 

 stands distinguished for its beautiful saucer- 

 shaped flowers of rich crimson-scarlet with 

 crimson-black centre, Linum grandiflorunt 

 rubrum, Scarlet Flax, one of the raost 

 effective and showy annuals ; having a 



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