AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 117 



When the soil does not contain a due proportion of 

 calcareous matter, a preference should always be given 

 either to the last, or to the two last of the above prepa- 

 rations, until it shall have received a sufficient supply of 

 an article so # indispensably necessary as calcareous matter 

 to the production of sweet herbage, liguminous plants, 

 and grain. 



By the method heretofore recommended, of mixing 

 peat with lime, in the proportion of five or six times the 

 weight of the peat to the lime, no injury can arise by an 

 overabundant use of this last-mentioned article. First, 

 because the lime, when thus mixed with peat, meets 

 proper matter to combine with, or to act upon ; and se- 

 condly, the small proportion necessary to be used, when 

 compared to the weight of the peat, will be considera- 

 bly less than the quantity of lime only, usually given 

 at one time to ground. The bulk, weight, and the ex- 

 pence of the preparation, will direct the farmer in the 

 quantity requisite to answer his intended purpose. An 

 application of a moderate quantity of lime, from time to 

 time, whether mixed or not with peat, is much to be pre- 

 ferred 



* To soils containing a superabundance, or a sufficient quantity of vegetable 

 'matter, a preference is to be given to lime unmixed. 



