518 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



ashes. Owing to recent changes in the process of gas manufacture^ 

 lime is used less than formerly. 



Waste lime from beet-sugar factories may be effectively applied 

 to soils after it has been allowed to dry. It contains some potash, 

 phosphoric acid, and nitrogen, which still further increase its value. 

 If this material is applied to the soil in a wet condition it tends to 

 cake in the same manner as water slaked lime does when not imme- 

 diately worked into the soil. It is sometimes put in piles by itself 

 and worked over every few weeks. It may also be dumped in the 

 field during the winter in small piles, where it is allowed to remain 

 Until spring, when, after drying sufficiently, it may be spread and 

 incorporated with the soil. According to Heinrich, this material 

 contains: Water, 35 to 60 per cent; nitrogen, 0.1 to 0.4; potash, 0.1 

 to 0.3 ; phosphoric acid, 0.5 to 1.5, and lime, 15 to 30 per cent. It is 

 evident that this waste material in its moist condition could not be 

 transported to any considerable distance at a profit, and in this coun- 

 try, where labor is such an important item, it would not pay to 

 shovel it over much in order to get it into condition to use. 



Waste lime from soda-ash works usually contains considerable 

 water, and can for this reason only be employed to advantage where 

 the cost of transportation is small. If some economical means of 

 drying it could be devised, the range of distance to which it could be 

 profitably shipped would be much increased. 



From the preceding statements regarding the different kinds of 

 lime used for agricultural purposes, it is evident that it is impossible 

 to state definitely for all locations and conditions which kind is most 

 economical to employ. This is still more evident when one consid- 

 ers that the character of the soil and of the crop to be grown, as well 

 as the market prices, must be taken into account. Caustic or quick 

 lime is the most concentrated, and consequently the most economical 

 to handle. Its caustic properties, however, render it more vigorous 

 in its action than the milder sulphate (gypsum) or carbonates (lime- 

 stone, chalk, wood ashes, marl, etc.), and thus better suited for ap- 

 plication to soils which are rich in organic matter than to light soils 

 deficient in this substance. It is also especially suited to correcting 

 acidity in sour soils. There may be special reasons in particular 

 cases why some of the other compounds of lime are preferable to 

 quicklime. Gypsum has been used in agriculture to a considerable 

 extent with very satisfactory results. On account of its peculiar com- 

 position it has been found especially valuable for neutralizing so- 

 dium carbonate (black alkali) in alkali soils. Wood ashes are used 

 extensively in some localities, in many cases as much for the lime as 

 for the potash which they contain. It is very doubtful, however, 

 whether it would not be more economical at the present prices of 

 wood ashes and caustic lime to employ the latter in many cases, sup- 

 plementing the lime with potash salts and other fertilizing materials 

 if the latter are required by the soil. The item of transportation is 

 also decidedly in favor of the use of lime and agricultural chemicals 

 as substitutes for ashes. 



