THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



205 



reous iMariiires,' chap, xvii, p. 58-9. " Lord Kamcs 

 nieniions a lact of the coniinued beneliciul elit'ct 

 ol' an application ol' ralfareous mainire which 

 was known to be 120 years old. Every auihor 

 who has treated ol' manures ol" this naiure attests 

 their lontr duraiion : but when they say thai they 

 will last 20 year?, or even 120 years, it amounts 

 to the admission that at some I'uture time the ef- 

 fects of these manures will be lost. This I deny 

 ' — and, Irom the nature and action of calcareous 

 earth, claim for its eHects a duration that will 

 have no end." With all due delerence and re- 

 spect (or an opinion coming liom such hi^'^h autho- 

 rity, I beg leave to differ. Lime is not lost when 

 given to the soil, but we ha^e reason to believe 

 its general properties are chanced byunitinir with 

 carbonic acid. Now there is a"wide diflerencc 

 between the carbonate of lime and quick-lime, 

 when used as manure — the former is a mild inac- 

 ive neutral salt ; the latter a caustic, disorganiz- 

 ing earth, thai leeds plants by selling at liberty 

 the components o( the atmosphere, vegetable and 

 animal matters, putrid sewers, dunghills and 

 grave-yards, until the (ell destroyer becomes sa- 

 tiated and neutralized with carbonic acid; and, 

 being unable to pursue the wofk of destruction 

 any lonirer, remains quiescent. I doubt whether 

 ihe'carbonaie of lime, when given to the soil in 

 extreme division, undergoes decomposition. For, 

 according to Mr. Lavoisipr's table of the combi- 

 nations of carbonic acid with the salifiable bases 

 in the order ol' affinity, lime stands first, with the 

 exception of barytes, an earth seldom found in 

 Virginia. Carbonic acid, then, having the slronsi- 

 est affinity for lime, will unite with it, and the 

 longer it is exposed to atmospheric air the harder 

 it becomes. Marine sheila remain on the sur- 

 face of the earth for ages, in a state of preserva- 

 tion, exposed to heat and cold, moisture and dry- 

 ness, resisting at the same time the action of the 

 acids. Lime used in building becomes so hard 

 from atmospheric exposure and age, that it is with 

 difficulty broken ; and 1 suspect the lime mortar 

 in the old church steeple in Jamestown has be- 

 come by age as hard as lime-stone. Lime water 

 exposed twenty-four hours to the action of air, 

 forms a carbonated crust, and, if it- remains any 

 length of time, all the lime dissolved in the water 

 will unite with carbonic acid, and form a neu- 

 tral salt. May we not conclude, then, that quick- 

 lime, when given to our lands as manure, ulti- 

 mately becomes a salt by the laws of affinity? 

 Am I right, then, or wrong, when 1 say our lands 

 must be periodically limed? Lime alone must 

 be used as manure, and not its combinations with 

 the carbonic, sulphuric and other acids. Those 

 who purchase lime With a view of improving the 

 soil, should get it in light casks, and ploftgh it in 

 as soon as possible ; (or a lew days' exposure to 

 the action of the air destroys its caustic properties 

 in a great degree, and deprives it of the power of 

 decomposing animal and vegetable manures. 



Dr. Meriwether, a distinguished farmer, was 

 the first, I believe, who used lime as a manure in 

 Amelia ; and he regularly limed his little farm of 

 250 acres once in four j^ears, and was amply paid 

 for the lime and labor. 



In eastern Virginia, we have the sand, and the 

 clay, and the labor, but we are without lime; 

 how are we to get it? My answer to the ques- 

 ion is, that we must buy, if it cost 75 cie. per 



bushel, for without this useful mineral our lands 

 can never be reclaimed. We may t;o on slowly 

 to in)proveour (arms, with vegetable and animal 

 manures, rest and native srrasses, but all our 

 worn lands cannot be reclaimed without lime. 

 Now the question is, shall we continue the pre- 

 sent system of agriculture, or shall we lime our 

 lands? 



Two ounces of quick-lime will cover one yard 

 square ; and as there are 4,900 square yards in an 

 acre of ground, two ounces to the square yard 

 brought to us at 75 cts: per hundred pounds, 612^- 

 lbs. will cost S4.59 the acre. I am not [irepareJ 

 will amount to 612| lbs. ; and as lime can be 

 to say this quantity of lime will reclaim our worn 

 lands, but think it will incre.-^se our grain crops, 

 and enable us to purchase again the same 

 amount of lime, which will reclaim, it' not enrich 

 our worn laiids ; at the expense of a quarter of 

 a pound of lime to the square yaid, or 1225 lbs. 

 to the acre, wh:ch will cost §9.18, if lim.ecan be 

 furnished ai 75 cls. per hundred pounds, is it 

 then to the inieret^t of land holders In eastern Vir- 

 irinia, to improve their (iirms, by liming at from 

 84.59, (0 ,'#9.18 per acre? It appears to be the 

 only alternative, and the farmers of eastern Virgi- 

 nia, ought to give half a pound of lime, to the 

 square yard, or 2450 lbs. to the acre, which 

 amount to $ 18.36, in preference to emigration. And 

 why? Because their farms would be rich, crops 

 abundant, and ample returns made for every 

 dollar given lo the soil. 



The population of Cumberland is less in 1840 

 than it was in 18.30, owin-j I suppose to the dete- 

 rioration of our lands, and the only way we can 

 slay emigration, and save eastern Virginia, is to 

 lime the soil and plough it deep. But while I 

 am inculcating this doctrine, I must be candid 

 enough to say, that I have never limed my farm, 

 and am hiring out laborers annually, because 

 the farm has no lime to support them. 



If rail-roads, contemplated some years ago, 

 from Richmond to Farmville, Lynchburg and 

 Danville, should ever be completed, it would 

 then be within the opportunity of every land- 

 holder in this section of Virginia, to purchase lime 

 at a very reduced price. But as this great work 

 will not be carried out in many years, a rail-road 

 from Planters' town, the head of navigation on 

 the Appomattox, to some point on James River, 

 above Warminster, a distance of 25 miles, would 

 furnish a large portion of eastern Virginia with 

 lime. 



A section of the state then most remote from 

 calcareous deposites, would be supplied with lime 

 at 20 or 25 cents per bushel. Such a road would 

 be valuable not only on account of lime, but va- 

 rious other minerals would be transported across 

 the country, and cut off the long route down the 

 James River and up her tributary streams. 



Bui it may be said, that there are many land- 

 holders who could not incur the expense of lime 

 at any price; this is true, unless they would sell 

 a part of iheir worn lands, to improve the balance. 

 If they are not disposed to make such a sacrifice, 

 the only alternative will be, to improve a part of 

 their worn (arms, with manures collected from the 

 stables, farm yards, cowpens, wood yards, leaves 

 from the forest, ashes and so on. That part of 

 the farm, which cannot be manured, should be in- 

 closed, and every lall turn ia the coat of vegeta- 



