No. 1. 



Facts and Opinions on Lime. 



27 



(as well as ornament for his hunting whip,) sell for one-half the price per bushel of stone 

 or, if you had ratlier, for that of the King of lime. 



France himself; while another portion was i There is a threat dinbrcnce in the value of 

 baked in an oven until it had acquired a tine! lime, depending on the purity of the stone 

 brown tint, when it was ground down in oil,! out of which it was burnt. Home lime con- 

 and formed the very color with which Sir tains one-tburth or more of sand ; and otlen 

 Tiiomas liawrence painted the beautiful horse I other impurities enter into its composition 

 upon which the Duke of Wellington rode on 'which materially lessen its value. Masons 



the day of the battle of Waterloo ! 



And, if you will allow a little digression, 

 we will suppose that tlie hoofs of this won- 

 derful creature were burnt in an iron pot, and 

 being mixed with potash, a fine blue color was 

 formed from the residue (called Prussian blue) 

 with which the blue ribband was painted 

 which decorates the portrait of that famous 

 man, riding upon that famous liorse, which 

 was painted by that famous painter ! 



And, to crown all, we will suppose that 

 the remainder of the bones of this noble crea- 

 ture were ground up for manure, and were 

 used for a purpose, by no means inferior to 

 those above mentioned, according to the spirit 

 of our motto — "Agriculture is the noblest of 

 all employments, as well as the most favor- 

 able to morals. Let the soldier talk o^ honor 

 and s^lory — I see more honor in covering the 

 earth with grain and verdure, than with dead 

 and mangled bodies, and more glory in pro- 

 viding food for its inhabitants than in destroy 

 ing them." 



24th July, 1838. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Facts a.n<l Opinions on L.itue. 



" Examine all things, and hold fast to that which is 

 good." 



The extensive and increasing use of lime 

 for agricultural purposes, renders it highly 

 necessary that farmers should be put in pos- 

 session of all the leading facts in relation to 

 60 important an article; and one in which 

 large numbers of them are dealing annually, 

 some of whom have sustained loss from lack 

 of that kind of knowledge which would ena- 

 ble them to protect their interests. 



It has been ascertained from a series of ex- 

 periments carefully made in England, by 

 Bishop NVatson, and it is presumed that they 

 will apply equally well in this country, that 

 upon an average every ton of 2240 lbs. of 

 good limestone produced 1292 lbs. of quick 

 lime, weighed before it was cold ; and that 

 when it was exposed to the air it increased 

 weight daily, at the rate of a hundred 



and bricklayers are among the best judges of 

 lime, for they know that the purer it is, the 

 better it works, and the more sand may be 

 mi.xed with it. Some lime is so poor, or con- 

 tains so much foreign matter in its composi- 

 tion, as not to admit of any, or only of a very 

 small (juantity of sand being added to it in 

 making mortar. Tiie lime tliat is most pro- 

 fitable for making mortar, is also most valu- 

 able Ibr agricultural purposes. The purer 

 lime is, the more water it takes in, and the 

 longer it is in slacking, and it increases more, 

 both in weight and measure by the process of 

 being slacked, than poor or impure lime does. 

 Water dissolves the alkaline ingredient ai' 

 lime, and it has been ascertained that at tlie 

 freezing point it dissolves double the quanti- 

 ty that boiling water does, differing in this 

 respect perhaps from all other bodies. 



Lime water, or the alkaline solution of 

 lime, is perfectly transparent, and possesses 

 an acrid, alkaline taste, somewhat similar to 

 the ley from wood ashes. 



Dr. Alston states that one pound of quick 

 lime furnished him with 600 pounds of lime 

 water without its being sensibly weakened, 

 land that he continued the application of addi- 

 jtional quantities of fresh water to it for twen- 

 ty-six months. 



I It is presumed that it is this alkaline soln- 

 tion of lime that produces the principal effect 

 on the soil and on vegetation. Lime and its 

 solution are well known to be jwwerfiil anti- 

 septics, resisting or impeding putrefaction in 

 animal or vegetable substances, notwithstand- 

 ing it has been stated in many books of agri- 

 culture that it promotes fermentation and pa- 

 trefaction, and renders bodies more quickly 

 and readily soluble in water. 



Quick lime applied to succulent vegetables 

 [absorbs the moisture from them, and renders 

 I them perfectly dry and brittle, and if the 

 quantity of lime be great compared with the 

 vegetable matter, combustion takes place and 

 the vegetables are reduced to ashes, but are 

 I not decomposed in the usual understanding- 

 of the term. 



Lime spread on the surface sod is in some 



m 



weight per ton, for the first five or six days ji measure prevented by the grass and the fibres 

 after it was drawn from the kiln. of the roots from descending into the earth, 



A ton of fresh well burnt lime will absorb, and the rains from time to time dissolve it, 

 690 lb=!. or nearly one-third its weight of wa-[,and carry down the alkaline solution, so as to 

 ter without being slacked ; and a bushel of moisten every particle of the soil with it. 

 good stone lime, when slacked, will measure This neutralizes the acidity of the soil, and 

 two bushels; of course slacked lime should' the carbonic acid gas of the atmosphere coq- 



