183S] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



613 



coiiiilry may be sometimes traced to the same 

 caiiso:' liosigiialcd above., viz: crowded enclosures 

 and inifuire air; errors, which, wherever they ex- 

 ist, should be caretully corrected 



AnVANTAOKS OF I.TMK. 



T) the. Editor of the Farmer and Gardener. 



Dear Sir, — Althouixli unaccustomed to writins 

 for the public, it wives me pleasure to comply with 

 your reciuest, m my plain way, in jrivintr you my 

 views, in relation to the value of lime, and the re- 

 sult of my experience and observations in the use 

 ofit. Few have been more benefited by the ex- 

 perience ofothers, and none more willing to profit 

 by the good example of a neighbor; I cannot, of 

 course, object to offering my mite to the common 

 stock, truslins!' that, like the widow''s mite, it will 

 be received with the same liberal feelings with 

 which it is offered. At the age ol'eighteen I rook 

 possession ofa large farm, within six miles of Bal- 

 timore, which had been tenanted out for upwards 

 of forty years, without any restrictions. To you 

 who have a personal acquaintance with it, it 

 would be unnecessary to say, that it was com- 

 pletely worn out ; but a stranger may form some 

 idea of its miseraole condition, when I assure you 

 that for several years belbre I took charge ofit, the 

 income from 600 acres did not amount to ^1-50 per 

 year. I soon discovered that it was perfect tblly to 

 farm poor land, and directed my energies to im- 

 proving. Mv attention was soon directed to lime, 

 by an old Fnglish gentleman vvho had lately 

 bought in my neighborhood ; but so strong were 

 the prejudices of the farmers generally to trymg 

 " visionary notions," that it was thought only 

 those who had money to throw away could afford 

 to use it; and, as I had none to spare, I con- 

 cluded to follow the example of my '• old experi- 

 enced and most thrifty neighbors," by sending a 

 load of wood to the city, and bringing back a load 

 of ashes. This f continued for several years, by 

 which time I was iially convinced it was too slow a 

 business, for I discovered that by the time I would 

 reach the third or fourth field, I should have to go 

 the rounds again ; besides, with all my industry 

 through the winter, we could not get up more 

 ashes than would manure nineteen or twenty 

 acres, consequently requiring twelve years to im- 

 prove 200 or 240 acres. This, I thought, would 

 never do ; to look forward to growing gray at so 

 slavish a business, was rather a dull prospect for a 

 man of my sanguine temperament. In the mean- 

 time I had been watching closely the effect of lime 

 on my old English neighbor's liirm ; and was by 

 this time convinced that there was something 

 more than " visionary notions" in the use of lime, 

 and at once looked to lime as the only way for me 

 to get along; but how to manage it was the diffi- 

 culty — I had not the ready cash to buy with, and 

 was afi-aid to go in debt. " I saw an abundance of 

 limestone about three miles above me, which 

 seemed to be little valued, and knowing I had 

 plenty of wood, soon went to calculating^what it 

 would cost me to haul the stone and burn the lime, 

 and at once satisfied myself that by doing the 

 work " within myself" the cash expenses would 

 not exceed eight or ten cents a bushel, whilst 

 I should have to pay the lime burners twenty-four 

 cents. I at once went to work to build a kiln that 

 would burn 1,-500 bushels, and never shall I forget 

 the concern it occasioned among my fi-iends. 



Those who lived in the midst of limestone, 

 thought it impo.-^sible my experiment would suc- 

 ceed, having such a distance to haul the stone, 

 whilst " my old experienced neighbors" still 

 thought it monej^ thrown away to put lime on the 

 land ; and, never shall forget the earnesttu'ss 

 with which an old and valued li-iend, Mr. 



T , admonished me of the hazard I was 



running, and the seriousness with which he at- 

 tempted to dissuade me from my " wild no- 

 tion:" the boy, he was sure, would ruin him- 

 self — for the old gentleman knew that my cash 

 means were very slender. " The boy," how- 

 ever, persisted ; and, I am sure, T would not 

 exchange the profils of my lime kiln ibr that 

 of some of the gold mines. Every day convinces 

 me more strongly, that but ibr my lime kiln, 

 I should have been a broken iiirmer. My kiln was 

 scarcely under way before the example was fol- 

 lowed by another; and now, after a lapse of 

 eight or ten years, they are as thickly dotted over 

 the neighborhood as you will find in any part 

 of the country where they have limestone on 

 the spot : and it has become a proverbial saying, 

 that wherever you see a lime kiln, " That man is 

 well to do." As to the mode of applying it, 

 I have ever pursued the same system; viz., 

 spreading it on the suiitice, the quantity depend- 

 ing on the condition of the lanu ; on very steril 

 soil, the quantity should not exceed fifty bushels 

 per acre, and I doubt very much whether the pro- 

 duct of any land will be increased for the first few. 

 years by a larger quantity ; but where (as is the 

 case with myself) it is important to save manual 

 labor, you may safely put on land that has a sod 

 on it from 120 to 150 bushels per acre ; and, 

 no doubt, the effect vviil continue many years 

 longer than if a smaller quantity was applied. On 

 my fijrm, I have two kinds of soil, the gray rock 

 and a gravelly soil ; lime acts powerfully on 

 either, but most so on the sray rock : and, I find, 

 will admit ofa much larger quantity being used at 

 a time. On land that would not bring more than 

 three barrels of corn to the acre, I am confident has 

 often, by one dressino; of lime, been made to pro- 

 duce the first year from five to seven barrels ; and 

 land that a few years since was covered with po- 

 verty, grass, and briar bushes, now produces me 

 fine crops of timothy, corn, and wheat. It is 

 highly gratifying to see the eairerness with which 

 the yomtg farmers of my neighborhood are im- 

 proving with lime, and the white heaps in the 

 spring afford a delightful variety to the appear- 

 ance of the neighborhood. As long communica- 

 tions are never read, I will cut this short, with the 

 promise to write to you again. Yours, &c. 



W. G. 

 Baltimore cnunty, N'ov. 28, 1837. 



From tlie Fanners' Cabinet. 

 LIME. 



The discussion respecting the application of 

 lime as a manure, reminds me of the anecdote of 

 the old man giving advice to his son. " Put 

 your lime," he said, " if possible, on your sod be- 

 fore it is ploughed. If you can't put it on before 

 it is ploughed, put it on as soon as possible after- 

 wards. And if you can't put it on after it is 

 ploughed, then put it on the best way you can." 



My design, at present, is to communicate a few 

 facts, whicTi have come under my immediate ob- 



