104: CHRONICLES OF A CLAY FARM. 



had equally done their work; and fifteen quarters 

 of lime [one hundred and twenty bushels] to the 

 acre was all I added, before the seed was sown. 



My great object was to see the specific operation 

 of lime upon a worn-out soil. If written words may 

 be relied on, it is the most puzzling substance the 

 farmer has to do with. The chemist tells us, and 

 with truth, no doubt, that it has two distinct effects : 

 one upon vegetable matter, which it helps to decom- 

 pose ; the other upon mineral matter which it " cor- 

 rects." Such is the word, and we must use it for 

 want of a better. la the first operation it is virtually 

 a " manure," because it turns into food for the crop 

 organic matter which would else have remained 

 inert ; in the second it is an organic alterative, 

 supplying calcareous matter, and forming a base for 

 the free acids exposed by the freshly moved subsoil. 



I had taken some pains to ascertain the previous 

 character of the field. Fifteen or sixteen bushels to 

 the acre, (undrained, and in high ridge and furrow,) 

 was the utmost crop the memory of man could 

 furnish an account of. 



The crop of Wheat came up well, looked even 

 and healthy, but not thick, throughout the succeed- 

 ing summer, and ripened late. The produce, when 

 threshed out, was six-and-thirty bushels, including 



