No. S. 



Lime — %^griculture. 



115 



versally the practice, to apply the lime to the 

 sod, the year previous to its being planted 

 with corn. With this method several advan- 

 tages are connected. First, The lime may 

 be hauled and spread, at any convenient time 

 during the season — say, in May and June, 

 between corn plantini'' and hay harvest. 

 Second, The crops vi?ill derive much more 

 benefit from its being put on the land some 

 length of time before it is ploughed, than to 

 put it on just at the time of putting in the 

 crop. It has been duly ascertained, that one 

 of the principal effects of lime — is, the de- 

 composition and brmging into action, the inert 

 vegetable matter in the soil. When lime is 

 spread on the sod, it comes into more imme- 

 diate contact with the grass, and grass roots, 

 than when the ground is first ploughed ; in 

 fields which have been partly limed on the 

 sod, then ploughed, and the remainder limed 

 at the time of planting with corn. 1 have 

 observed in ploughing up corn stubble, that 

 the part limed on the sod, ploughed up much 

 mellower, than that limed after the sod was 

 ploughed ; presenting a rich vegetable mould 

 not observable in the other part of the field. 



There are no kinds of crops which have 

 come under my observation — namely, corn, 

 oats, barley, wheat, rye, potatoes, clover and 

 timothy, but what are benefitted by lime, with 

 the exception or flax. Where flax was for- 

 merly raised to great peifection, a very in- 

 ferior article is now produced, since the ap- 

 plication of lime. This has almost led to the 

 abandonment of its cultivation in many sec- 

 tions of the country. 



Oats, however, if the lime is applied fresh 

 the season it is sown, will rather be injured 

 than benefitted by it, in preventing it from ri- 

 pening. I have seen oats, in fields which had 

 been recently limed, send up an indefinite 

 number of suckers or young stalks from the 

 roots — which, together with the parent stalk, 

 would scarcely ripen if allowed to remain the 

 whole season in the field ; and the stubble 

 would sprout up profusely after the crop was 

 taken off. But when the lime has been ap- 

 plied a year or two previous, it is decidedly a 

 benefit to the oats. Lime can be applied 

 with advantage, whether put on fresh, or left 

 exposed to the elements till it becomes cold. 

 This has been exemplified in the application 

 of mortar from old buildings which has been 

 known to produce lasting efifecls. I have 

 been told bv a person who has had much ex- 

 perience in liming, that he has had clover to 

 succeed better, after putting it on fresh 

 slacked and hot, tlian in any other way. 

 , The Lancaster turnpike, in the vicinity of 

 the Great Valley, is supplied with stone from 

 the quarries of primitive limestone in the 

 south side of the valley. I have observed a 

 field adjoining the turnpike of a thin slaty 



soil — the subsoil of which is composed en- 

 tirely of a slate gravel, (and perhaps there 

 are many others of a similar nature and simi- 

 larly situated ;) which has had no burned lime 

 applied to it for perhaps an age, and yet is 

 remarkable for its productiveness — being far 

 superior to many others in its vicinity, which 

 are possessed of a much richer natural soil. 

 Part of this field receives the flood of the 

 turnpike, by which it becomes overspread 

 with the pulverised limestone of the road ; 

 and the other part is visited, in dry weather, 

 by clouds of dust — which in my judgment, is 

 tlie great stimulant to its vegetable productive- 

 ness. 



If these facts amount to any thing, it ap- 

 pears that lime applied in whatever form, is 

 a stimulant to vegetation. Cut the form and 

 manner in which it may be most advantage- 

 ously applied, I leave for others yet to deter- 

 mine.- A. 

 Chester County, November 2ncl, 1837. 



Ag;i'iculture. 



MANURES. 



This subject is one of the first importance 

 to the farmer, and is as yet but very imper- 

 fectly understood among us. What has been 

 your mode of preparing it] Have you used 

 it long or rotted 1 What effect has it pro- 

 duced 1 What kinds have you tried, and 

 which do you prefer] Lime, plaster, bones, 

 poudretle, marl, or stable manures — what is 

 your eslimate of their comparative value so 

 far as you have used them, and on what de- 

 scription of soils and crops have you found 

 them severally the most effective and valua- 

 ble. 



WHEAT. 



What is the kind of soil on which you have 

 cultivated it most successfully ? What is 

 the average yield per acre ] Is the average 

 less now than formerly, or is it greater] and 

 if either, to what cause is the difference to 

 be attributed ? What is your method of cul- 

 tivation] and if you have adopted a rotation 

 of crops, in what part of the course is the 

 wheat crop placed ] If you manure for wheat 

 how do you apply it, and what manure do you 

 prefer] What variety of wheat do you cul- 

 tivate, and have you found any dift'erence 

 &mong the kinds in the liability to smut, blast, 

 or be affected by insects] What insects 

 have you found to injure your wheat, and at 

 what stage of its growth ] Have you culti- 

 vated spring wheat] and if you have tried 

 various kinds, which do you prefer ] 



THE GRASSES. 



The cultivation of the grasses is one of the 

 most important objects that can be brought 

 to the notice of the farmer ; yet it is one upon 



