LIME AND MISCELLANEOUS FERTILIZERS 22Q 



undesirable. Lime as gypsum is particularly valuable 

 when applied to land where crops are grown which 

 assimilate large amounts, as clover and other legumes. 

 It should be remembered that it is not a complete 

 fertilizer, but simply an amendment and an indirect 

 fertilizer. 9 If used to excess it may get the soil in such 

 condition that plant food is not easily rendered avail- 

 able. A common saying is, " Lime makes the father 

 rich but the son poor." 22 This is true, however, only 

 when lime is used in excess. When used occasionally 

 in connection with other manures, it has no injurious 

 effect upon the soil and is a valuable fertilizer, especially 

 where clover is grown with difficulty. 



MISCELLANEOUS FERTILIZERS 



272. Salt is frequently used as an indirect fertilizer. 

 Sodium and chlorine, the two elements of which it is 

 composed, are not absolutely necessary for normal 

 plant growth. When salt is applied to the soil and 

 the sodium undergoes fixation, potassium may be lib- 

 erated. An early experiment of Wolff illustrates this 

 point : a buckwheat plot fertilized with salt produced 

 a crop with more potash and less sodium than a similar 

 unfertilized plot. 



Salt may be used to check the rank growth of straw 

 during a rainy season, and thus prevent loss of the 

 crop by lodging, although not in excessive amounts, as 

 it is destructive to vegetation ; 200 pounds per acre is a 



