Io6 FERTILITY AND FERTILIZER HINTS 



for soils rich in organic matter, to prevent the loss of nitrogen. 

 Should you desire to correct the acidity of a soil and decompose 

 the organic matter quickly, caustic lime or slacked lime should be 

 used. On peaty land, old forest land, and other places where 

 considerable vegetable matter has accumulated, lime is very 

 beneficial as it helps to liberate the nitrogen and form nitrates.* 



Amount of Lime to Apply. — The nature of the soil regulates to 

 a certain extent the amount of lime to apply. On soils that are 

 acid it should be understood that the rains have carried the 

 acidity to the subsoil. Therefore during dry periods the capillary 

 water will bring up acid from the subsoil. Enough lime should 

 be added to correct the acidity of the surface soil and allowance 

 should be made for that which may be brought up from the sub- 

 soil. A small application will not last as long as a large quantity 

 but will in all probability give greater profits per ton of lime. 

 If land must be improved quickly, large applications are the most 

 desirable. The nature of the crops grown should also determine 

 the amount of lime to use. On sandy soils 800 to 1,000 pounds 

 of slaked lime or 1,600 to 2,000 pounds of ground limestone 

 per acre should prove sufficient and for heavy clay soils, 1,600 

 to 2,000 pounds of slaked lime or 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of 

 ground limestone per acre will prove beneficial. Sometimes 

 smaller or larger amounts are used with good results. Some 

 farmers use light applications every four or five years while 

 others apply large quantities at eight, ten or fifteen year periods. 

 The farmer should be the best judge and he can find out after one 

 trial the amount of lime necessary to satisfy his conditions and 

 when to apply it.* 



Legumes Require an Alkaline Soil. — It is a well known fact that 

 alfalfa, clovers, etc., require a soil well supplied with lime for 

 the best returns. One has only to visit an alfalfa field in a lime- 

 stone section to find out the benefit of an alkaline soil for produc- 

 ing leguminous crops. On acid soils the legumes become sickly 

 and do not develop tubercles or nodules on their roots. These 

 helpful bacteria which gather nitrogen from the air are not active 

 in an acid soil and cannot perform their functions. 



