212 WALL'S MANUAL 



LIME. 



The purposes served by lime as a chemical constit- 

 uent of the soil, are, at least, of four distinct kinds, 

 viz : 



1. It supplies direct food for plants which appears 

 necessary for their healthy growth. 



2. It neutralizes acid substances, which are naturally 

 formed in the soil, decomposes and renders harmless 

 other noxious compounds, w T hich arc very jo f ten in 

 reach of the rootlets of plants. 



3. It changes insoluble vegetable matter into soluble 

 food for plants. 



4. It promotes the decomposition of existing com- 

 pounds in the soil, so as to prepare them more 

 speedily as food for plants. 



Lime is not merely a base, but a very strong basa, 

 and can therefore withdraw from the weaker bases 

 existing in the soil the acids with which they are 

 combined. Caustic or quick lime, as the name indi- 

 cates, attacks the skin of the hand, and 'dissolves it 

 in washing in the same way as potash or lye, and has 

 a similar action upon other animal and vegetable 

 substances. When lime is mixed with the soil, it 

 acts in this decomposing and dissolving way upon 

 leaves, straw, stalks and other vegetable matter in 

 the soil which have already been partially converted 

 into mold by natural decay. 



The difficulty of vegetable matter in light soils, 

 accounts for lime not acting beneficially. It should 

 be used very sparingly on such lands, and with an 

 interval of six or seven years between the limings. 

 Lot green crops of peas or clover be plowed under, 



