338 



Application of Lime to Soils. 



Vol. V. 



day, and at night the heated exhalations es- 

 caping from it, producing; a greater amount 

 of dew, supply the plants, nestled in its bo- 

 gom, with necessary moisture from the pure 

 and bounteous fountains of the atmosphere. 



Some farmers think that lime is injurious 

 to wheat land — that it makes the soil cold, 

 and that their lands, when dressed with it, 

 are more apt to produce mildewed grain than 

 they were before it was applied. That this, 

 in many instances, has appeared to be so, 1 

 do not doubt, because the soil, by its applica- 

 tion, is rendered more productive, and there- 

 fore we have m.ore grass, which, under our 

 present system of sowing grass-seed with 

 wheat, is injurious to that crop, as I have 

 contended in a former paper. Tull, in his 

 excellent Treatise on Blight, says: "Wheat 

 being doubtless originally a native of a hot 

 country, it requires by its constitution a con- 

 siderable degree of heat to bring it to perfec- 

 tion; and if much of that degree of heat is 

 wanting, it will be the weaker, and when 

 the solar rays cannot reach the lower parts 

 of the stalks, the lowest leaves and knots can- 

 not do their office;" and hence the maturity 

 of the plant is protracted, because " the lower 

 parts of the stalks must receive the greater 

 share of heat, being nearer the point of in- 

 cidence of the sunbeams reflected by the 

 ground." Being deprived of this genial and 

 necessary heat, since it is shaded near the 

 roots by grass, and being imbedded in too 

 moist and cold a soil, it has not the power of 

 elaborating its sap or evaporating its fluids, 

 and is therefore slow in ripening ; and hence 

 the crop, becoming diseased, is frequently de- 

 stroyed by mildew. 



In the application of lime to land, much 

 care and close observation is required, to pro- 

 duce the best results. The farmer should 

 not be too generous: he should not forget 

 that lime and earth constitute mortar, and 

 therefore his care should be only to apply so 

 much to his soil, if light, as will render it 

 sufficiently compact to retain moisture and 

 heat ; for a sandy soil is composed of spherical 

 particles, and is too readily ventilated and 

 drained of its moisture, and being mixed with 

 lime, the interstices being closed, the soil is 

 greatly improved. After several years of ex- 

 perience and careful observation, I am con- 

 vinced that lime, when applied to a sandy 

 soil, renders it more compact, and much more 

 productive; and that manure, when applied 

 to it after a dressing of lime, will have a much 

 more lasting influence than it would have had 

 before its application. Upon heavy soils, lime 

 Bhould be applied only in such proportions as 

 will render it most mellow or friable ; any 

 thing beyond this, will be found to be injuri- 

 ous. It is not material, as I apprehend, whe- 

 ther it be put on in a hot or cold state, be- 



cause it is soon cooled under atmospheric in- 

 fluence after being slaked, and cannot be 

 ploughed in after being spread before it bo- 

 comes chilled. I usually apply it in the 

 spring, when preparing for corn, the working 

 of v.'hich, and the preparation of the land for 

 subsequent crops, thoroughly mix it with 

 the soil. I obtain the lime when ready to 

 apply it, have it placed in a situation conve- 

 nient for water, where it is immediately 

 slaked ; and as it falls, it is carted out and 

 spread upon the land previously ploughed, 

 which, after being harrowed, is struck out 

 and planted. I have applied it in other ways, 

 but the results were never so satisfactory. 



1 have been told by Fome farmers, that the 

 greatest benefits from the use of lime on their 

 land are exhibited in about seven years after 

 its application; some say in four years; 

 some contend that they have seen its eflTects 

 the second year, and others say that they 

 never saw any effect whatever from its ap- 

 plication, although they put it on in gene- 

 rous quantities. Now, I verily believe all 

 these statements to be true, and I account 

 for this singular anomaly in the following 

 manner. In the latter instance, the lime was 

 ploughed in so deep that it was never mixed 

 with the soil, and therefore produced no ef- 

 fect; and in the former, the admixture took 

 place probably in one, four, or seven years 

 after it was applied. In some cases, it is 

 said, land has been injured by it. I am in- 

 clined to believe that in those cases the farmer 

 has been too generous, and would recommend 

 as a corrective, that he plough deeper, and 

 thereby mix more earth with his lime. He 

 will thence have the advantage of a deeper 

 soil. As the quantity best adapted to improve 

 most soils, I would recommend from forty to 

 fifty bushels unslaked to the acre. I have 

 found excellent results on sandy, clayey, and 

 loamy soils, from the application of that 

 quantity. As I have never farmed limestone 

 or red shell soils, I cannot advise respecting 

 them. 



I therefore repeat, mix your soil well with 

 the lime which you may put upon it — pul- 

 verize it thoroughly — destroy all natural 

 vegetation, if you wish to raise naturalized 

 crops — exercise a sound judgment as to time 

 and method, and you will seldom have reason 

 to complain, in this part of Pennsylvania, at 

 least, either of an ungrateful soil, or an un- 

 favourable climate. 



Kenderton Smith. 



1 



When I consider that what was thought 

 by my father fifty years ago to be venerable 

 and sacred, is now laughed at as ridiculous 

 and absurd, have I not a right to expect and 

 believe in the continuance of progress ? 



