72 FOR BETTER CROPS 



a white powder, and then distributed. "Agricultural lime," 

 often sold at absurdly high prices, is simply burned lime slaked 

 and ground, and is in no way better than the lump that any 

 farmer can slake at home. 



Air-Slaked Lime— If you do not use ground limestone, air- 

 slaked lime is the only thing that you should use. It requires 

 one and one-half to two tons of it to do as much work as one ton 

 of caustic lime, but while caustic lime attacks the liumus of the 

 soil, air-slaked lime probably does very little injury in this way. 

 We do, however, recommend that this lime should have not less 

 than six months' time in which to air-slake, and a year would 

 be still better. In this time, if the lime is well burned, all the 

 lumps should slake, making it much easier to apply, and also 

 very much safer to use on your ground. We advise using air- 

 slaked lime at the rate of two to four tons per acre. It is unwise 

 to sow lime and acid phosphate at the same time, as the lime 

 would neutralize the phosphate; probably this would not apply 

 to untreated phosphate rock. 



Lime Not Everywhere Needed — Because of the wide- 

 spread interest in alfalfa and lime, we get letters asking about 

 the application of lime, from regions where we cannot think 

 lime is needed. Hardly anywhere is it needed in the arid region, 

 in the Dakotas, in Nebraska— perhaps nowhere in alkaline soils; 

 probably not in any place where limestone gravel is mixed 

 through the soil by the glaciers would additional lime be espe- 

 cially needed. When it is somewhat difficult to get stands of red 

 clover; when "sorrel" comes in the land; and crab grass crowds 

 out the alfalfa; when the alfalfa plants that come have a sickly 

 yellow appearance instead of a dark vigorous green; then one 

 may safely assume that lime is needed; and in the humid regions 

 of the east, wherever Kentucky blue grass and white clover is 

 not the natural carpet of the soil, alfalfa growers should take 

 heed of the need of more carbonate of lime before sowing their 

 seed. 



Alfalfa and Tile Under-Drains — The question is often 

 asked: "Will alfalfa stop tile under-drains?" On Woodland 

 Farm with probably eighteen miles of tile under-drains, only a 

 few hundred yards have given trouble from being stopped with 

 alfalfa roots. These places where trouble has occurred are 

 where running water flows through the tile continuously from 

 perennial springs. In no instance has the alfalfa given trouble 

 to ordinary farm drains where the tiles become dry in summer. 



A Thin Stand of Alfalfa — It rarely pays to try to thicken 

 alfalfa. The seed will usually come up all right, but for some 

 reason it will mostly perish throughout the first season. Disking 



