220 



Lime. 



Vol. X. 



seems one of those questions to which no 

 one can give anything hut an evasive reply. 

 No matter to whom the question is put, 

 whether to one even who has iiad the expe- 

 rience of a life in agriculture; he can give 

 you no other answer than that it depends on 

 the quality and condition of your land ; and 

 this leaves you exactly where you were be- 

 fore the question was asked, so that if you 

 happen to be engaged in agriculture, and 

 somewhat new to the business, you must 

 grope your way as well as you can, throw- 

 ing the lead along the shore of your doubts 

 and conjectures, till experience at length 

 puts you fairly afloat. A few general prin- 

 ciples are all that can be offered to guide 

 the young agriculturist. We have already 

 given them, and he may rest assured that 

 very few, unless they have been precisely 

 in his circumstances, can do more for him. 

 But in this question of quantity, there is an- 

 other involved of almost equal importance; 

 and here will be found the same difficulty in 

 giving decisive and determinate replies, as 

 in the case of quantity ; it is as to how 

 oflen lime should be applied, whether in 

 large quantities, at long intervals, or in 

 smaller amounts, at short intervals. We 

 have very little doubt that the last is the 

 best mode of proceeding. But we must be 

 understood only to speak generalljs as par- 

 ticular circumstances must be met by par- 

 ticular modes of action. If one clears a 

 piece of ground where there is a large 

 amount of undecomposod vegetable matter, 

 he may and ought to throw on a large dress- 

 ing of lime, and if this land is not culti- 

 vated, but remains in grass, used, we mean 

 for grazing alone; then it will not require 

 more for several years; but if crops are 

 taken from the ground, then we are under 

 the imperative necessity of replacing at 

 least as much as we withdraw. From these 

 remarks we can draw two general conclu- 

 sions, the one, that on a virgin soil we may 

 put a large dressing of lime, and be per- 

 fectly sure that we are doing right; while 

 on land under cultivation, we need put no 

 more than will preserve its fertility. Also, 

 that in the first case, the liming need not be 

 repeated for a long time, while in the other 

 case a heavy dressing at first is unneces- 

 sary, and that the liming had better be at 

 short intervals, and not in large quantities. 

 We are inclined to think from what we 

 have seen and know of the management of 

 land in this quarter, that too much lime is 

 generally put on, or perhaps it u'ould be 

 fairer to say, too much in proportion to the 

 barn-yard manure used. Besides regarding 

 lime as a nutriment to plants, and a neces- 

 sary aid to their vegetation, we must also 



regard it as more or less of a stimulant. 

 The not keeping this in view, has, we are 

 disposed to believe, occasioned a good deal 

 of the murmuring and disappoint.iient that 

 may be heard not unfrequently expressed, 

 as to the effects of this agent. Lime re- 

 quires something to act on, or it will be of 

 very little use. In long cultivated soils, in 

 which the organic matter has been exhausted 

 and not returned by farm-yard manure, lime 

 will do more harm than good, or to state the 

 thing more strongly, it will lead to barren- 

 ness. It is in this matter of barn-yard ma- 

 nure, that our farmers in general are defi- 

 cient. They do not treasure it with sulTicient 

 care, or attempt to increase it with sufficient 

 industry, and the little they have they spread 

 over far too much ground. This careless- 

 ness not only tells upon the crops, but leads 

 to dissatisfaction in the use of lime. From 

 there not being veg-etable matter enough in 

 the ground for the lime to act on, it of 

 course fails and disappoints, and spends 

 much of its force in stimulating instead of 

 fertilizing; thence we are driven to the 

 conclusion, that our farmers use lime too 

 liberally and too frequently, and that it 

 would be better, while they remain inatten- 

 tive to their barn-yards, in filling them with 

 the means of enriching their lands, either 

 to put on less lime, or to repeat it at longer 

 intervals. 



The practice of England will be no guide 

 to us in this matter. There ttey throw two 

 and three hundred bushels on the acre, and 

 find an advantage in it, probably from the 

 clayey nature of the soil ; while in France, 

 sixty or seventy bushels, repeated every 

 seven or eight years, are thought enough. 

 In other parts of Europe, less than this, and 

 at intervals often and twelve years, is found 

 to place and preserve the soil in a fertile 

 condition. So that as we have already said, 

 the practice of others, whether individuals 

 or nations, will not assist us, or but very lit- 

 tle, unless there is an analogy in the cir- 

 cumstances. It would be a matter of inte- 

 rest to know how much lime is withdrawn 

 from the land every year. If we could as- 

 certain this with certainty, or any thing ap- 

 proaching it, then we should be able to tell- 

 how much lime was wartted each year, and 

 whether it would be better to apply it at 

 long or short intervals. One thing we pre- 

 sume will be conceded, that land only re- 

 quires a certain quantity of lime to bring it 

 to t!ie highest degree of fertility that is pos- 

 sible by the means of this agent. Now, who 

 shall decide whether this sliall be attempted 

 by applying one hundred bushels to the acre, 

 and in this way aim at success by a bold 

 effort, or whether M-e shall undertake it by 



