tained and carried away in the currents. Our 

 marl beds were probably deposited at a much 

 earlier geological era, and have no connection 

 with the soil on our present surface, hut were 

 upheaved or denuded in some of those great 

 convulsions to which our globe has been every 

 where subjected. That our lands are for the 

 most part destitute of lime is certain. That it 

 has been taken from them in this way, is more 

 than probable. The masses of silicitied shells 

 to which I have already alluded, and which are 

 so abundant in your County, prove that the lime 

 may be entirely carried off by water. 



But if there is no lime in the soil, from what 

 source do the growing plants derive this indis- 

 pensable constituent, may well be asked. It 

 has been often asked. Nature has not revealed, 

 and Science has as yet failed to discover an an- 

 swer satisfactory to all. Whether, as is conjec- 

 tured by some, the unknown vital action of the 

 plant issufficiently powerful and comprehensive 

 to create the requisite modicum — or whether it 

 can, as others suppose, by some galvanic agency, 

 extract it from sources where its existence has 

 not yet been detected by chemical reagents, is 

 yet a mystery. But this much experience has 

 established and science demonsti-ated, that where 

 lime cannot be found in fair proportions in a soil, 

 the health and vigor of the plants growing on it 

 can always be materially improved by a judi- 

 cious application of it. And to this conclusion 

 common sense, without experience or science, 

 would lead evei^j' one who was aware that it is 

 invariably au element in all vegetable matter. 



The precise rationale of the action of lime on 

 the soil, and the manner in which it benefits 

 vegetation, has never been fully and minutely 

 explained. Nature still holds many of the se- 

 crets of her laboratory undisclosed. Many and 

 many of the most important details of her won- 

 derful processes of composition and decompo- 

 sition and of the vast play of her chemical affin- 

 ities, yet await, the persevering investigation 

 and penetrating thought of man. I will endeav- 

 or to lay before you, succinctly, what is known 

 or rationally conjectured in regard to the opera- 

 tions and effects of lime, .so far as may be mfite- 

 rial to the present purpose. 



It is applied to land, either directly or mixed, 

 in compost heaps, and earned out in manure. — 

 But for the additional labor the latter would al- 

 ways be the best method. Where it is used in 

 large quantities, it is much cheaper to spread it 

 at once upon the land, and apply manure, &e. 

 afterward, as circumstances may dictate or per- 

 mit. It is sometimes put on land in the state in 

 which it comes from the kiln, that is, as quick or 

 caustic lime. Sometimes it is first slaked in wa- 

 ter, vv'hen it becomes a hydrate of lime. Most 

 commonly it is .slaked by mere exposure to the 

 atmosphere, when it assumes the form of carbon- 

 ate or mild lime, that is, lime combined with car- 

 bonic acid, which it extracts from the air in the 

 proportions I have already stated. It is in this 

 form that it is found most abundantly in nature. 

 Sulphate and phosphate of lime are also found, 

 but quick-lime never. The lime in shells, mar- 

 ble, limestone, marl, &c. is usually all of it the 

 carbonate. Its action, however, in the long run, 

 is always the same, whether applied in the mild 

 or caustic state, being dependent on its intrinsic 

 properties as lime. When caustic, it at first rap- 

 idly decomposes whatever of vegetable fibre or 

 animal matter it comes in contact with. But its 

 caustic quality is soon exhausted, or rather it 

 soon becomes changed itself by the action of the 

 (1150) 



substances it meets with, and thus loses its caus- 

 ticity. On lands containing a great excess of 

 vegetable matter, such as peat and rich bog, and 

 where rapid decomposition is desirable, quick- 

 lime is the best form of application, if equally 

 cheap, as it saves time, and renders the soil pro- 

 ductive much sooner than the carbonate will do 

 it. 



Although lime is found most commonly com- 

 bined with carbonic acid, the fact is owing more 

 to the abundance of that acid which exists in the 

 atmosphere, in water, and is continually rising 

 from vegetable decay, than because it has any 

 affinity lor carbonic over other acids. On the 

 contrar}% it will yield it up and combine in pref- 

 erence with almost any other. Not only the 

 strong mineral, but most vegetable acids, even 

 vinegar, as I have before mentioned, will drive 

 it off. The effervescence which takes place 

 when carbonate of lime is thrown into them, is 

 caused by the carb. acid escaping in the form of 

 gas. From this great affinity of lime for all 

 acids results one of its primary and most import- 

 ant effects in soils. Acids are anti-septic and ar- 

 rest spontaneous decay. Lime combines with 

 them wherever it finds them free from other 

 combinations, and neutralizes their injurious ef- 

 fect. Hence, on lands that we call sour — and 

 on many that are really sour without our know- 

 ledge of the fact — all land covered with broom- 

 sedge, for example — it is of inestimable value. — 

 It destroys the sourness, and thereby promotes 

 the decay of whatever matter may have been 

 locked up by acids, which is calculated to nour- 

 ish useful vegetation. From this qualit\- of lime, 

 it is denominated an Alkaline Earth — alkali be- 

 ing the reverse and antagonist of acid. When- 

 ever an alkali and acid meet, they neutralize 

 one another in certain proportions, and form 

 what is called a salt. For instance, our common 

 salt is muriatic acid, and the alkali soda. So car- 

 bonate of lime is, in fact, itself a salt. 



These salts, and especially those of which lime 

 is a component part, are of the highest value in 

 Agriculture. Some of them are soluble in wa- 

 ter, and these are the most valuable. It is, in 

 fact, only when they are thus dissolved that they 

 afford any direct nourishment to growing plants, 

 which can imbibe nothing by their roots but wa- 

 tery .solutions, and are fed altogether in this way 

 from the ground. But the salts which are read- 

 ily soluble in water are soon exhausted. Every 

 shower dissolves them, and whatever surplus is 

 left afler the plants have absorbed the solution 

 to the extent of their capacity, is liable to escape 

 by evaporation, or to be carried by the water in- 

 to the earth below the reach of vegetation, or to 

 run off with it into the streams. Salts, then, that 

 are not immediately soluble in water, if they can 

 be made soluble gradually, are in the long run 

 the most useful to the farmer. Of this class are 

 most, if not all, of the salts formed by lime. Car- 

 bonate of lime is indeed wholly insoluble in pure 

 water, and if lime remained forever in that state 

 it would be of little value in the soil other than 

 its mechanical influence on the texture of it. — 

 But if carbonic acid be added in excess — that is, 

 more of it than 44 parts in one hundred, which are 

 required to make the carbonate, this salt be- 

 comes soluble. This excess is in point of fact 

 constantly furnished in email quantities by the 

 air, by rain water, and by the decay of vegeta- 

 ble substances in the ground, and hence, one ad- 

 vantage from keeping lime near the sarface. — 

 The lime thus dissolved enters into the plant and 

 feeds it. In this way, and this way only, is it a 



