ntmevQ Mon 



tsitot. 



" -^Le who 



cowpuctedbFTsaac hill. 



I.ABOR l.V THE EAHTH AIIC THS CHOSEN f, 



;V0L. 9. NO. 5. 



^ --E,— _-.-^-^ — ^^- ^.^.^ 



CONCORD, N. H., MAY 31, 1847. 



TI«13 PAIIMEKS MOKTHLY VISITOK, 



■* PUBLISHKII BV 



EiiTfc^arariv...^ ■ . -i fc|,r- fm„ 



WHOLE NO. 101. 



ISAAC IJILL, & SONS, 



ISSUED O.V THE LAST DAV OK EVERY MONTH, 



At Athenian Duilding. 



.cy anrf i«4,<:r,>(,„„,, Jj, a regulation of the Post Master 

 ■l,m,:,j„, all cases ie re„uUcd i} the Poft Mc^lTf\fmoj 



5£Sttlr 



35fflMiYil|Tol> 



the Action and Uses of Limeln AgiicuU 

 -e, and the most Efficient and Economical 

 ^s of Applying it to the Soil. 



^^U-.S ANDERSON, ESQ., OF INVERNESS-SHIRE. 



'^-^ [Premium Ten Sovereigns.] 

 'he^icuon orii.ne in agricnli„,e depen.ls rum-.l, 

 [he stale „. wind, it ,.-.„|,plie,| ,o,„i|,, „,!,,■, N- 

 kire as an oxrde ofcak-iu.n, or co.„lm,ed will, 

 pK), am ilieo, cliernically speakin- a salt ot 

 U.Hl ,kevv,sc. on il,e coudiiion and con.po- 

 n of he KOils m various res,,ec.s at tlie time 

 a|)phcation. 

 ;he lime of agiiculinre is principally derived 

 xiUarfe'e deposits of native carbonate, (linie- 

 me;)and, intlnslbrn,, itis (onnd in (irntn-nt 

 1 £'T '-•"'i^,"!'^™!'''^ quantity an.on- tl,e vari- 

 I.^Colo^ical formatluns. Tlu; sulphate nflin,. 

 isTcr ol Pans) is also (bund in very cousidera- 

 . r,uan„ty in Gennany, including Austria, 

 .nee, Switzer and, Spain, the American States, 

 Peninsula ot Xova .Scotia, and Kew (Jruns- 

 k<m onr own country, and elsewhere, ahun- 



.fpphcd directly lo .he soil so extensively as 

 Ainenca and other countries; it exists in veg- 

 b e as les, and ,s .sometin.es so applie.l in this 

 u. ij, particularly to the lejrmninons crops, as 



Hovers, with very heneficiai effects. In Hol- 

 l.the ntniosi confidence is placed, and with 

 ^.rent good reason, in the restoration and "1'- 

 Mng j.owersof hiluniinous peat 

 hosphate oC lime, aiHl another' salt or acid 

 [.poundo tissuhstance,isapplie.Mn hoiJ 

 luie, I.eing the principal mineral integrant in 

 r coniposiuon ; and it is supplied to the soi 



.e application .and deco,npiJi,i,mol the ve" - 

 >lefioresan,lanin,al suhstances which fi.rd 

 .■-«yiniotl.e frucilyi,,.. „,«,«,,■„,; J 

 P '"-"inre heap. It occms in nature in vei is 



beds in connection with tin and iron .n'eJ^ 



to nn.ll-and in at least one locality in 



., besides n. Saxony and liohemia, and ^Ise' 

 e llMssuhstance would be well worth a 



10 llimk, from experience on a small scale it 

 ^it prove a valuable manure '"^'=■'1^,11 



^.e principal supply of lime, liowever, fora- 

 IT •""'''°-^''« '^ •I'^nved from the api, ica- 

 ^,^7:""^' '^-"f '" 't'e native carbonate, w'ch 

 lis the carl^mic acid, and in this state i is 

 M o the suKace over which it is to be a. 



d.ly combines, l^emg at the same time re- 



duced 10 a fme powder, the most convenient form 

 lor Its apphcitioii to the soil 



VVlien pure, l,elc,re uniting with the water, car- 

 bonic or other acnl, ,t is known under the famil. 

 imappellHnon of qnicU-lime. Applied in this 

 stale to so.lpi containing organic substance.--, it 

 enters mlouuioi, with lhe.«esubstancesand forms 

 compounds which are partiallv soluble in water 

 All organic substances contain abundantly car- 

 bonaceous matter and oxygen, and, by att/acing 

 lbe.se the quirk-lime ,s gradually c.niverte.l into 

 a carbonate. But in the practice the quick-lime 

 IS genera ly slacked uiih water before it is ap- 

 plied to the sod, in order to reduce i, to a pow- 

 der ; and IS Ibus more equallv divided in the ,110 

 ees.so scattering it over tiie surliice. When 



s 1? 'i'"';" "'""" ;''"' "»"'•■' i' i^ ehemicallv 

 styled a hydrate, and operates in the same way 



asquick-bme m reducing or combining with or- 

 ganic substances. It retains no lom;e, the same 

 action; but, on the contrary, operates powerfnlly 

 'I' preventing the too rapid decompo.sition of or- 

 ganic substances already in a stale of solution or 

 approaching to it. 



Havi.ig stated generally, in a few word.«, the 

 •cti not ,,mck hmeand hydrate, and carbmiate 

 01 mild bme, we shall reserve the .letails of the 

 most eflicient and economical modes of ai.nlica- 

 lon to be specified an,! explained as they may 

 na ura y suggest themselves in our prog/ess. ^ 

 1. VVe have lo consider the most suitable pe- 

 riod u, the rotation Ibr the application of lime. 

 I nilh a view to economy and eificiency both, 

 I IS must be when ihe land is preparing for a 

 hillow or (a low crops. ], should always in this 

 <-asebeappliedasa by.lrate. At thi/time an 

 opporttmiiy ,s ofiered, when the land is in pro- 

 gie.-s 01 tillage at any rate, of intermixing and 

 iborongbly incorporating the lime with the soil 

 when It immediately acts, as before stated, upon 

 .luyiusoluble organic substances which it may 

 contain ; ,md instead of remaining dormant, iii- 



do '1?' T ""''^''' '" ""■■*'' substances bad been 

 iluimg the previous rolalion, ihev gradnallv form 

 combiuaiious with lime, which become partially 

 cion Iv'" "^'"•-''-'■".1 "lu.., when lime is judi- 

 < lo.isly applied to a (allow, it is one reason (br a 

 smaller ipiantily of maiinre snfficin-. This of 

 course, will only happen when there-has been an 

 accumulation ol fibrons ami insoluble oi-anic 

 "latter in the soil, which is always the case'in a 

 iiewly improved land, and where the soil al- 

 ' luiijili III cidiivalion, has never previously 'un- 

 deryone liming, and nnn-e particularly if it con- 

 tains in Itself little calcareous matter. 



Willi regard to the crops to which lime is 

 ^mud most beneficial, we shall begin with the 

 Cererxba, and of these we shall speak of wheat 

 barley and oats. We know, in iimnmerable in- 

 stances, that wheat is grown on soils previously 

 incapable of yielding an abundant or remnnera- 

 img crop. We -lo not doubt that this is panly 

 owing to the previous operation ..f efficient drain'- 

 lug, as the most ignorant a-ricullurist is now 

 aware o( the (act, that the application of maflnre 

 organic or inorganic, is comparatively frnitless 

 WMlmiit attention to <lrainint:, as a preiiarative in 

 the hrst instance. 



From Ihe previous application of lime to a 

 tallow, we see a very moderate allowance of ma- 

 nure-consisting either of bones, themselves 

 coniaming a large proportion of phosphate of 

 lime— and various combinations of decayin" or- 

 ganic substances, produce an admirable "crop of 

 lurnips, and thus prepare the way for a rich and 

 luxuriant crop of barley, and this, too, on soils 

 tliat ranged (ortnerly very low Indeed in the scale 

 ot lertdity, but have lieen quickene.l into life and 

 productiveness by the presence of this new agent. 

 Ue have seen also a very superior crop of bar- 

 ey frequently produced on barren moorland, by 

 lie simple application of lime, and with a very 

 little addiiion indeed of iunutrilious and ill-pre'- 



rra pwrtlrrr .i.r .^.r.-. .^ 



pared manure, in onr own island, at an elevation 

 o( eight or lime hundred feet, and between lati- 

 tude bity-seven and fifty-eight degrees, and this 

 too on a soil, to say the most of it, of average 

 barrenness. 



As to the oat crop, in the rotation, we have not 

 oliserved that it is by any means pro|ioiiioiially 

 so much rmprove.l by the application of lime.— 

 But tins may be accounted (or by the great ex- 

 liaiistion of manure cau.»ed by ihe luxuriance of 

 previous barley crop.s. In biu'h and low locali- 

 ties, where oats are ciiliivateii as the principal 

 gram crop (or winter fodder, and the lime applied 

 and lairrowed m above the ploughed 11at11r.1l lea, 

 the effect 011 the crop has been very beneficially 

 apparent, particularly and chiefly where the land 

 has been w^ell drained before the application of 

 the lime. The improvement in the succeeding 

 pastnre-gras.s, was, if possible, still more remark- 

 able and lasiing. This is easily accounted for 

 when we consider that the cold" in this country 

 at considerable heights, and the consequent low 

 natural temperature of the coiitaine.l water in 

 the soil, together tend to retard the decomposi- 

 tion of any portion of the fibre of the growing 

 liatural herbage that may be left iincf.nsumed on 

 the sui-nice. I5nt when lime is applied, it imme- 

 diately clissolves Ibis fibrous deposite, which has 

 been, (rom the above causes, unceasingly ,iccu- 

 mulating, and converts it into wholesome and 

 abundant nourishment for a higher and more use- 

 ful class of niants. At great heights then, ard 

 in cohl localities generally, the effects ol' lime are 

 peculiarly striking, and also very lasting, after 

 draining. '^ 



Of the Leguminous crops, we may say unhes- 

 itatingly, (rom what we have observed, that they 

 cannot be cultivated with any success without 

 the previous application of lime, unless where 

 abundance of native calcareous matter exists in 

 the sod. The bean, indeed, anrl, so far as we 

 have observed, the potato crop, are exceptions to 

 tins rule; although we have seen lime, in com- 

 post with earth or old turf dykes, give a most 

 productive and valuable crop of potatoes. 



Whether spread on the surface of pasture land 

 alone, or in compost with earth, or applied with 

 a crop and grass seeds, with a view to pasture 

 It never finis to call into existence the dormant 

 seeds of the superior grasses in the .soil, and to 

 nourish and fiiciliiaie the ifiowih of those that 

 have been confided to it by the agricnlturist. 

 1 bis IS a fact placed beyond all dispute. It is a 

 never-lailing (eriilizer of grass land. 



9. The effects of lime on peaty soils are the 

 tollowing: 



Peat is known to contain two substances inim- 

 ical to vegetation, and eminently )>reyentive of 

 the changes and interchanges, the decomjiosi- 

 tions andrecomposiiions, necessary to afford a 

 supply of genial nourisbineut to a superior class 

 of vegetables. These injurious substances are 

 tannin and gallic acid. But let ns consider for 

 a moment the composition of these inimical com- 

 pounds, and we shall find that we have it in our 

 power, by a sim|)le process, to convert them into 

 siil,stances most friendly to the advancement of 

 superior vegetation, and in this Ibrm eontribntin<' 

 bighly to the fertility of soil.s. We find on analt 

 ysis that they are composed of the following con 

 stiluent proportions: 



Carbon. Hydrogen. Oxysen. 

 '""""'. 52.59 3.825 43 583 



Gallic Acid, 56.64 5.00 38.36 



We have shown in the first part of this essay 

 that <piick-lime and hydrate have a powerftil af- 

 finity Ibr carbonaceous matter and oxygen. This 

 known, with the assistance of the above analy- 

 ses, it is at once clear how they operate benefi- 

 cially on peaty soils. It is evident that, by ap- 

 jJiopriating a portion of the carbon and oxygen 

 the lime neutralizes the acid in both these sub 



