376 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



obtained by experience, but to the cause that may 

 have produced ihese result?, 1 hnzard llie tbilovving 

 sugifeslions to the farmers of Frederiolf county, 

 and the recommendation applies to all other por- 

 tions ol" the slate. Get lime, at almost any ex- 

 pense, and apply it according to the nature ol' the 

 soil as is herewith directed. If the soil is natu- 

 rally a good one, and under good cultivation, it is 

 advisable to apply at once the whole quantity ol 

 hme which may be judged necessary perma- 

 nently to improve it, and this quantity on such 

 soils need not exceed one hundred and fifiy bush- 

 els. Should it be impracticable or inconvenient 

 to procure in the same year the whole quantity, 

 I'rom fifteen to seventy-five bushels may be first 

 applied, and the remainder two years afterwards, 

 alter the first cutting of the clover. These direc- 

 tions apply to wlieat land, on which it appears 

 prelljrable to turn in the vegetable matter first, then 

 apply the lime, to be harrowed in subsequently. On 

 corn lands the method that has been crowned with 

 the best success, is that pursued by one of the 

 most thrifty farmers of Carroll county, Mr. Jacob 

 Schriver, which is to mix the lime in the soil with 

 stable manure. In tiiis way, he informs me that 

 he has obtained very heavy crops upon poor land, 

 with only from forty to filly bushels of lime. In 

 general, lor unimproved land, it is always belter 

 to turn the lime in with stable manure, and when 

 not so provided, with any vegetable matter that 

 may lie in the soil. A good plan is to turn the lime 

 in with the sod, sow buckwheat, and when in blos- 

 som return it to the soil, furnishing in this way 

 vegetable matter for the lime to act upon. In this 

 latter case, the returns, though certain, are not so 

 speedily to be expected. Those farmers who burn 

 their own lime, should not neglect to use the refuse 

 of their kilns in making composts with alternate 

 layers of it, and of whatever vegetable or animal 

 matter they can bring together. These, when pro- 

 perly mixed up, and comminuted, are to be used 

 as ordinary manure. The Ibregoing directions ap- 

 ply to all sorts of soil, whether they be on lime- 

 stone lands, red lands, chestnut lands, or any kind 

 of lands, whatever be their color, texture, or other 

 physical character, provided there be soil enough 

 to support any sort of vegetation. 



I have in Icirmer reports given my theory of the 

 action of lime, and although liirmers are mwre im- 

 mediately interested in the results of its application, 

 they cannot fail to employ it more judiciously, as 

 well as other manures, wtien they understand the 

 reciprocal action that takes place between these 

 and the plants which they wish to cultivate. I thall 

 therelbre introduce here a few simple notions ol 

 vegetable physiology, and repeat again what [con- 

 ceive to be the mode of operation of lime. Every 

 one knows that plants have not the power of creat- 

 ing new elements, which they at most can assim- 

 ilate and elaborate so as to Ibrm new compounds 

 out of those derived from the earth, air and water 

 in which they live. Accordingly, the result of a 

 chemical analysis shows ihalail the earthy and 

 saline matters contained in them are traceable to 

 the earth ; whilst by their destructive distillations, 

 they are Ibund to yield gases, that Ibrm the ele- 

 mentary coiisiiluents of air and water. The prin- 

 cipal solid constituent of vegetables is carbon, or 

 charcoal, which vegetable physiologists assert they 

 derive in the first place from the carbonic acid gas 

 of the atmosphere, and I'rom the fermetaiion of 



the animal and vegetable substances that during 

 their progress of decomposition in the soil also 

 yield this gas, and is supposed to be either decom- 

 posed by the leaves of vegetables, or absorbed by 

 their roots when in a stale of aqueous solution. 

 It is Ibund that when a plant is allowed to grow 

 under a glass receiver, containing a mixed aimo- 

 sphere of carbonic acid gas and oxygen, the for- 

 mer gas is gradually absorbed, and nothing but 

 pure oxygen remains, and this process of vegeia- 

 ble decomposition goes on more rapidly under the 

 influence of the solar beams, for during the 

 night the reverse takes place, though the quaniiiy 

 ol carbonic- gas which they emit is trifling, compar- 

 ed wiih that taken up in the day. Thus plants 

 are constantly removing from tbe aimosjjhere a 

 gas known to be deleterious to animal lile, though 

 necessary to themselves, and replacing it by one 

 essential to both man and bruies, exhibiting a 

 most admirable provision of nature, to which we 

 must refer that healthlulness of a country life, 

 which, combined with active exercise and ihe enjoy- 

 ment of rural sporis, makes the mere consciousness 

 of existence a pleasurable sensation. It is also an ad- 

 mitted opinion among vegetable physioiogisis, that 

 plants have the properly of secreting from the soii 

 that sort offood which is most congenial toiheirown 

 wants, whilst they, at the same time, excrete, or 

 throw off, that which is best suited for their own 

 growths. If this doctrine could be well established 

 b'y experimental results, the pursuit of the agricul- 

 turist would become a science founded upon an 

 immutable basis, and a consistent system of rota- 

 tion in crops would secure to him a perpetual re- 

 currence of good crops. But it must be acknow- 

 ledged that this is the most obscure department of 

 vegetable physiology. 



As to tbe action of lime, or rather carbonate of 

 lime, I can conceive it to operate in three important 

 ways. 1st, As a neulralizer of any acidity of Ihe 

 soil which renders it prone to throw out ascescent 

 growths, such as sonel, pines, briers, &c.,that in- 

 leriere with the production of plants that afford 

 farinaceous seeds, in which case it may be sup- 

 posetl, by a new combination, to give out its car- 

 bon to the growing vegetable. 2d, As an amend- 

 er of soils; since it undoubtedly contributes to stif- 

 len a loose soil ; and gives body and consistency 

 to a porous and sandy one, thereby improving its 

 physical condition. And, 3d, as a septic or de- 

 composer of the vegetable matters that may have 

 existed in, or been applied to a soil, reducing ihem 

 into soluble compounds filled to this nourishment 

 of vegetable lile. These I conceive to be the most 

 immediate benefits derived from the application 

 of lime ; but it would seem to act also beneficially 

 as an absorbent of moisture, for it has been found 

 to protect soils from the pernicious effects of a 

 drought, and when used Ibr making compost, its 

 utility and action are easily understood as ex- 

 plained. When applied in alternate layers, with 

 stable manijre, or vegetable manure, or vegetable 

 and animal matters of any kmd, a powerful fer- 

 mentation takes place, which gives rke to the Ibr- 

 mation of a compound called ammonia, and to 

 the production of carbonic acid. A reaction soon 

 takes place between two substances, and a car- 

 bonate of ammonia is thus formed, together 

 with numerous other salts ; and the whole mass 

 is converted into powerful manure. Lime is flir- 

 ther serviceable to the farmer, by enabling him to 



