224 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



ous manures, that they should only be applied to 

 land in a dry state, and well drained. 



2. It is astonishing the distance from which lime 

 is carried in some parts of Scotland. Mr. Blackie 

 of Holydean, in Roxburghshire, drives it tweniy- 

 two miles, and the carriage, when hired is 7s. 6c/. 

 per boll of shells. In the parish of Moffat, where 

 ol late considerable improvements have been car- 

 ried on, and corn, turnips, 'and clover, raised in 

 great perfection, 1000 feet above the level of the 

 sea, the lime is carried from Douglas, at twenty- 

 seven and thirty miles distance. It is sometimes 

 carried on the borders, but in no great quantity, 

 about thirty, or even thirty-two miles;* and in 

 Aberdeenshire, it is driven that distance inland, 

 afier being imported from Sunderland. 



3. The quantity used varies much. It is evident 

 that strong deep soils require a greater quantity 

 than those which are light and shallow. Barorj 

 Hepburn is of opinion, that it should be applied 

 (requently, and in small quantities at a time, 

 especially on gravelly-bottomed loams, which are 

 apt to become too open and pliable by an over 

 dose of lime ; by following this practice, he hnds 

 his crops wonderfully improved, both in regard to 

 quantity and quality. Mr. Robertson ot Lady- 

 kirk states, that he has never seen lime used in 

 too great a quantity, if the land is judiciously 

 cropped ; if otherwise, it will ultimately hurt the 

 soil. He has laid on no less a quantity than 100 

 bolls of shells, 4 Winchester bushels each, per 

 English acre, and frequently with much success. 

 On'clry fresh land a less quantity will do. Mr. 

 Blackie of Holydean considers 16 bolls ot shells, 

 on such land, a sufficient dressing. Dr. Coventry 

 is of opinion, that in general, about 6 tons ol un- 

 elacked or newly-burnt lime, of ninety or ninety- 

 five percent, of purity, may be sufficient lor the 

 statute acre of land that has never been limed ; 

 but if the lime be impure, a greater proportion 

 will be requisite. Several intelligent farmers are 

 of opinion, that not less than 60 or 70 bolls ol lime 

 Bhells per acre, should be laid on a strong clay soil, 

 and that this quantity, with judicious cropping, 

 will be sufficient for a lease of 19 or 21 years. 



The information transmitted to me by Mr. 

 Walker of Mellendean upon this subject, is ol 

 peculiar importance, as he has limed perhaps 

 more land than any individual in the whole island, 

 and in the course of thirty years has tried va- 

 rious experiments in regard to the quantity that 

 should be applied per acre. On newly broken-up 

 land from old turf, he has laid on ffom 20 and 25 

 to 40 and 45 bolls of shells, of 4 Winchester 

 bushels each, per English acre. On light and thin 

 Coutfield) soils, the crop on that part of the held 

 that was limed at the rate of 20 and 25 bolls per 

 acre, was as rough, and appeared equally good, 

 with the crop on the land that had received 40 

 bolls per acre; but when it came to be thrashed 

 out, the grain was found very inferior in quantity, 

 and still more so in quality. Upon clay soils, the 

 effects of the lime, where a small quantity was 

 laid, were hardly discernible ; while that part ol 

 the field that received 40 and 45 bolls produced aii 

 abundant crop. Finding the produce of the land 

 that was limed with a small quantity so very in- 

 ferior, he laid on, (when tlie land came to be 

 re-fallowed), 20 or 25 bolls more, the efiecls ol 



* Communication from Mr. Walker of Mellendean 



which were never perceptible. He is therefore 

 decidedly of opinion, that every kind of soil 

 should have a good dose at once, in which case he 

 considers no repetition to be necessary for a long 

 time after ; but if repeated at all, the second lim- 

 ing should be considerably greater than the first, 

 which seems to be the general opinion of the 

 Scotch liirmers. As to repea'ed liming in small 

 quantities Mr. Walker is convinced, that whatever 

 is laid out in that way, after the first dose, is so 

 much money thrown away. He can give no 

 slrontrer proof, of his conviction in that respect, 

 than his practice upon the fiirm of Rutherford, 

 He entered to that (arm in June 1808, and since 

 that time he has gone over about eight hundrid 

 and fifty acres ; and though a great part of it con- 

 sists ol a light dry soil, and the lime has to be car- 

 ried twenty-four or twenty-five miles, consequent- 

 ly at a o-reat expense, yet on no part of the farm 

 has he Taid less than 40 bolls, of shells, or 240 

 Winchester bushels per Enfflieh acre, and oa 

 many places fully 50 bolls. Nothing, in his opi-_ 

 nion, assimilates the produce of outfield, to that o( 

 infield land so much, as a good dose of lime laid on 

 at once. The consequence of this liming has 

 been, the most productive crops, of every descrip- 

 tion, to be seen in all that neighborhood. 



Mr. Aitchison of Clements Wells also has 

 found'that lime answers every purpose he could 

 wish, in promoting the improvement of his estate 

 in Peebles-shire, where the climate is cold and 

 moist. H3 began to improve that property m 

 1806 and in October 1811 he had laid on it, 

 10 386 bolls, or 62,316 Winchester bustiels. Hia 

 ridWs are 18 feet broad ; and according to the 

 quantity he wishes to put on per acre, his overseer 

 hag the following table to conduct the opera- 

 tion. ,. u . ■ (. 



If it is proposed to lay on 25 bolls per acre, betwixt 

 each heap, of one firlot each, there ougln to be 

 a distance of - - - " SOgleet. 

 If 30 bolls, - - - " " S* 

 35 do. - - - " iq 



40 do. -.•--"'?? 



45 do. - - - - ^ - _V . ,, 



And in the same proportion as high as 50 bolls. 

 He never puts on less than 25 bolls, or 150 bush- 

 els of shells, per Scotch, (130 bushels per English 

 acre), and on heavy land he has gone the length 

 of70 bolls. The day the lime comes to the held, 

 a man follows the carts, and covers it up immedi- 

 ately with earth, by which, generally in a lew 

 days, it is reduced to powder. When in that state, 

 it is spread on the land. After trying several 

 other methods, this was found to be the best. 

 The improvement efiected by lime on that proper- 

 ty has been very great. , , . ,-„ 

 4 The slacking of lime completely is a most ira- 

 nortant operation. The common mode is, to lay 

 t in heaps from the kiln upon the ground intended 

 to be limed; but this, although the most expedi- 

 tious, is by no means the most advantageous me- 

 thod. In the first place, if the lime is not all of 

 the same quality, (which is seldom the case,) the 

 best lime commonly dissolves first, and the inferior 

 Quality continues unslacked ; so that it must either 

 be spread in that state, or the good lime must be 

 allowed to receive too much moisture, or again to 

 ?e-absorb its fixed air, both of which shou d be 

 nrevented. The best mode of slacking, is to lay 

 down the shells in a heap near to water, and by 



