No. 9. 



Lime and Lime Burning. 



211 



thirsty ; though tlie superficial observer who 

 finds that they will not drink early in the 

 morning may think that all has been well. 



There is not a man, probably, who has not, 

 at times, been very much in want of drink, 

 and yet, without being able to obtain it, his 

 thirst has gradually abated. In this case the 

 juices from other parts of the body are, in a 

 measure, put in requisition to supply moisture 

 when it is wanted ; so by an equalness, the 

 thirst is abated or done away ; but there is a 

 deficiency of moisture in the system, a drought 

 less severe but more extensive, which if ex- 

 perienced daily will prove unfavourable to 

 health and strength ; and in animals it will 

 injure the growth of the young and operate 

 against the fine, healthy condition of every 

 creature. They must have water when they 

 need it, or they will not drink. They do not, 

 like men, eat and drink according to fash- 

 ion. 



Many a farmer's horse that is now stupid, 

 lazy, and of a miserable appearance, would, 

 under the care of a good hostler, without ex- 

 tra keeping, become so changed in his appear- 

 ance and spirit, in a few months, though per- 

 forming the same amount of labour, that his 

 owner would hardly know him. 



For the Farmers" Cabinet. 

 Iiime and Iiime Burning* 



The last number of the Cabinet contains 

 an extract from the annual report of the geo- 

 logist of the State of Maryland for 1839, in 

 which there are some opinions which do not 

 correspond with the experience of the farm- 

 ers of Pennsylvania, who have long been in 

 the practice of using lime in large quantities ; 

 and as the Cabinet has an extensive circula- 

 tion among agriculturists, many of whom are 

 just beginning to use this very important 

 and valuable article, perhaps it may not be 

 out of place to make some remarks on parts 

 of the report, which do not correspond with 

 the results of experience in this state. He 

 says, " on such soils the quantity need not 

 exceed one hundred and fifty bushels," per 

 acre. Now if he alludes to shell lime, it will 

 do, for it is a very loose, light article, and it 

 is not easy to apply too much of it ; or if he' 

 intends to apply the remark to fallen or] 

 slacked lime, two bushels of which corres-| 

 pond with one bushel of stone lime, it is not 

 so unreasonable ; but if he means one hun- 



tity may be increased with impunity, and per- 

 haps often with advantage; but where it id 

 so applied, it ought to remain two or three 

 years before it is ploughed down ; the very 

 worst mode of application being that of 

 ploughing it under immediately; and the 

 very best that of putting it on the grass after 

 harvest, or in the autumn, and letting it re- 

 main till the sod is turned under for corn two 

 or three years afterwards, when it will be 

 found that the lime has descended nearly 

 plough deep, and tliat portion of it which re- 

 mains undissolved is again brought on to the 

 surface, to be dissolved and passed by rains 

 through the soil. It is believed that lime 

 does but little, if any good in promoting vege- 

 tion, until it is brought into a state of com- 

 plete solution, by the action of water holding 

 carbonic acid gas in solution dissolvins- it; 

 and then it immediately becomes incorporated 

 with the soil, and begins to act beneficially ; 

 so that as long as the lime can be seen in 

 small lumps it is comparatively useless. 



Where he speaks of the action of lime ; 

 his first and second modes as stated, will be 

 acceded to; but the third must be dissented 

 from ; it is in these words, viz. — " As a sep- 

 tic, or decomposer of the vegetable matters 

 ihat may have existed in, or been applied to 

 a soil, reducing them into soluble compounds, 

 fitted to the nourishment of vegetable life." 

 Hot, unslacked lime applied to any combusti- 

 ble matter will soon reduce it to ashes, and 

 much of its useful properties as a manure will 

 be lost by the process, for it is found that the 

 gradual decomposition of vegetable matter is 

 preferable to combustion in making food for 

 plants. And it remains yet to be proved, 

 that cold, slacked lime in the state in which 

 it is usually applied to land, docs, either in 

 large or small proportions, when applied to 

 animal or vegetable matter, tend to promote 

 or hasten their decomposition or putrefaction. 

 It has oflen been said and written that it 

 does ; but it is believed that the fact is pre- 

 cisely the reverse ; and that those who have 

 made experiments or observations with the 

 view of determining this important matter, 

 have arrived at the conclusion, that lime re- 

 tards putrefaction or decomposition in a re- 

 markable degree. Does it not uniformly pre- 

 serve wood work and timber fi-om decay ? 

 Has it not been observed that when it has 

 been put on corn:=talks and straw on dung- 

 hills or elsewhere, tliat they have been pre- 



dred and fifty bushels of unslacked stone ; served of a beautiful yellow colour by it? 

 lime, as it is usually measured at the kilns, '|and when it has been applied to beds of com- 

 the quantity is too much. Forty or fifty | post, is it not the general opniion that the 

 bushels per acre being considered a good ^1 vegetable matter docs not rot so soon! Is it 

 dressing, and more than that, is often injuri- , not applied to masses of putrescent matter to 

 ous, unless the ground is very rich in vege- 1 prevent the bad smell, and does it not effect 

 table matter, or its application is made as a; this object by arresting the putrefactive pro- 

 top-dressing on a grass sod, when the ouan-llcess? 



