No. 1. 



On Top Dressing Grass Lands. 



21 



box in whicli tlie shingles are to be phiced 

 that are intended to be inipreirnated with tiie 

 allialnie wdution. A suflicient quantity of 

 quiclc lime is put in the upper box, which is 

 slacked and reduced to a tiiin wash, and well 

 stirred uii, when it is permitted to settle. 



The siiinofles are set on end, with their 

 LutLs down, in the lower box, which is sutH- 

 ciently deep to permit the parts wliich will be 

 exposed to the weather when they are put on 

 in cour.'^es, to become soaked, by drawinjr down 

 the aJkaline lime tpalcr from the uj)per box 

 into the one below in which they are placed. 

 They .should remain in this .solution for some 

 hours, when they are removed and suffered 

 to dry, and others substituted in the bn.x to 

 underiTo the .same operation before they are 

 nailed on the lath. 



No part of the wliite wash or lime should 

 be permitted to pass into the lower box ; it 

 being- the caustic alkaline solution of the 

 lime only, which is beneficial; it is a power- 

 ful antiseptic, interposing powerful obstacles 

 to the decay of wood or vegetable matter of 

 any kind. The presence of the insoluble 

 particles of the lime would tend to clog the 

 pores and interstices of the wood and impede 

 or prevent the entrance of the alkaline solu- 

 tion of the lime, which is perfectly fluid and 

 transparent. 



An old roof may have its usefulness extend- 

 ed for many years by simply spreading pul- 

 verized quick lime over it, so as to form a ve- 

 ry thin coat of it on the roof, which, by the 

 abi«orption of the dew, the alkaline solution 

 will be formed, and will penetrate the shingle.s, 

 which will be cleared from moss and pre- 

 served by it, and on the occurrence of a heavy 

 rain the insoluble parts of the lime will be 

 washed off, leaving it clean. 



The tendency of white wash to preserve 

 MT3od from rotting, is universally acknow- 

 ledged, but it should be borne in mind, that 

 it is the nlknline solution of the lime only, 

 which has this tendency, and that the gross, 

 insoluble particles of the lime which remain 

 for a time in the form of a scale on the sur- 

 face to which it has been applied has nothinsr 

 to do with its antiseptic powers, and that 

 where the design of its application is to pre- 

 serve the wood only, it would better accom- 

 plish the object by bemg much more diluted 

 than it generally is, so that the alkaline qual- 

 ity would be more thoroughly ab.sorbed than 

 is usually the case. It is a very curious and 

 interesting fact that water at the freezing 

 point dissolves twice as much of the alkaline 

 ingredient of lime as boiling water does, so 

 that the use of hot water to dissolve lime is 

 worse than useless. X. 



Be firm in your resolutions — but weigh well 

 before you resolve. 



To llie KUitiir nf the Kurinerd' Cub. nut 



On Top I>r€!!i$iiiig Gratis I.aiicls. 



J)i:ak Sir : — A writer in the Farmers' Cab- 

 inet over the signature of Agricola recom- 

 mends not only the sowing of gra.ss seeds much 

 thicker than is most generally practised, by 

 even our best farmers, but also the toji dress- 

 infr (if ^rttss lands. The latti;r plan, top 

 dressing, 1 have tried, with lime, not marl, as 

 that could not be obtained — and with the best 

 results. When I first commenced myopera- 

 ti(jiis, I was not a little ridiculed by my more 

 experienced neighbons — but I bore all in per- 

 fect good li{imor, satisfied that the operations 

 of time woiild set them right. And in this I 

 was not deceived. The nature and operation 

 of lime as a manure was not then, and I se- 

 riously doubt, whether it is now understood — 

 but that it produces, under some circum- 

 stances, highly beneficial results, is not a sub- 

 ject of disputation. But how these results 

 are produced, is a question not as readily dis- 

 posed of. When f first tried lime many of 

 my friends allowed it might do good provided 

 it was ploughed in, and thoroughly incorpo- 

 rated with the soil. Others, again, thought 

 it ought to be buried very deep indeed — and 

 some, practical farmers of course, ridiculed 

 the whole system of theory and book farming 

 in particular. This was no doubt out of sheer 

 kindness to me, as I had become a book farm- 

 er by having that year, 1819, purchased a 

 copy of Sir John Sinclair's Code of Agricul- 

 ture. Well, I applied, as I before stated, the 

 lime as a top dressing to my grass lands; 

 this was my first experiment in the use of 

 lime. The results answered fully all my ex- 

 pectations, but were not as immediate as I 

 could have desired. My grass crf)ps were 

 greater in quantity and better in ^uo/Z/y than 

 those of my neighbors. This was owing 

 solely to the application of the lime — but my 

 neighbors were slow of faith, and although 

 constrained to admit the fact, the admission 

 was generally qualified by the declaration that 

 the Iwnefit would be but temporary — and that 

 the land, after the power of the lime had spent 

 itself, would be left in a worse state than at 

 first.* But this theory of our anti-theory 

 firmers would not work. Prejudice vielded 

 to the convincing power of facts — and now, 

 lime is regarded in this very neio^hborhood, as 

 one of the most important auxiliaries in fer- 

 tilizing the soil and retaining it in good heart. 

 I do not fully understand — I should say- 

 that I but very imperfectly comprehend, the 

 action of lime on the soil, or the manner in 



*Great crops, says a late iiitelliir'Tit Knt'lisli witi^^ 

 havo boon prnrlucpil by a fir-il application of i- ^^n gncf 

 many havp th'Ti-fon- been led into thfi orir ^ of rnpeat- 

 inKthe operation too often withont t\„. addition ni 

 other manures. Great cautiou id nc- ,.ssarv in this par 

 ticular.— Ed. " ' ■' 



