CH. xiii] Effects of Lime 223 



sulphate of ammonia, and the effect persists. At Cockle 

 Park the lime was used to counteract finger and toe, 

 and here again it brought about an improvement in 

 crop which lasted for a considerable time. 



Lime also effects a semi-permanent improvement on 

 wet, heavy soil as soon as adequate provision is made 

 for drainage, e.g., on the yellowish, greyish or blue clays 

 of the Lias and other formations of the Midlands, and 

 the heavy soils on the Mountain Limestone of the West ; 

 wherever, in short, owing to neglect in the past, the 

 drains and ditches have been stopped and the land has 

 consequently become thoroughly sour, as shown by the 

 predominance of bent, sheep's fescue and sweet vernal 

 grass (the two latter marked with very dark green 

 patches), sorrel, buttercups, hassocks, etc. The effect 

 of lime is to bring about a marked improvement in the 

 herbage which lasts until through neglect or bad 

 management the harmful conditions are allowed to set 

 up again. 



Where there is no particularly harmful factor to be 

 thrown out of action, the effect of lime is by no means 

 so persistent. Thus lime only produced an effect in the 

 first year on the Rothamsted grass plot manured in the 

 sort of way a good farmer might adopt, i.e., dressed 

 with farmyard manure every fourth year and with 

 something else (fish guano in this case) two years after- 

 wards. It was quite a good effect, increasing the yield 

 of hay from 41 to 63 cwts. per acre, but it only lasted 

 one season. Here the herbage had been quite satis- 

 factory and there was no specially harmful condition in 

 the soil. On the other hand, a plot on the same field 

 that had been rendered acid by excessive use of sulphate 

 of ammonia showed increases for at least four years 



