78 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 2 



ent in soils which, whether naturally forming a 

 component part of their substance, or judiciously 

 mixed vvitli them by the husbandman, adds great- 

 ly to their fertilit}', Cor it has the power of attract- 

 ing much botli from the earth and from tlie air, 

 wl'iich occasions the decomposition of plants, and 

 thus converting them into nutriment, it gives pow- 

 er as to vegetation which, without its operation, 

 would otherwise lie dormant. It also appears to 

 act with great force upon that substance which, 

 being aheady converted by the decomposition of 

 plants into a species of earth, we call mould. 



The other causes with which we are acquainted 

 regarding the operation of lime as a manure, would 

 lead to a chemical discussion, which could only 

 prove uninterevatinfj to the generality of our rea- 

 ders; we shall therefore confine ourselves to the 

 following observations. There can be no doubt 

 that it is a most powerful stimulant when applied 

 to deep loams and heavy clays, which contain 

 mould of a nature so sour as to appear to unfit 

 ihem for the purposes of vegetation ; or to land 

 wiiich has been previously either more or less ma- 

 nured with animal or vegetable substances, with- 

 out any addition of lime or other calcareous matter, 

 in VA'hich Cjise it often produces effects far more fer- 

 tilizing than the application of dung, for its active 

 powers render every particle of the putrescent ma- 

 nure useful ; but if the latter be not afterwards re- 

 peated at no great distance of time, the soil v/ill, ih 

 the couse of a few years, become considerably ex- 

 hausted. In all arable land, however impove- 

 rished it may be, either by nature or bad mauau^e- 

 ment, there yet always exists some portion of 

 mould, and, on this, a first dressing of lime occa- 

 sions a sensible improvement of the soil, which 

 soon becomes apparent in the increased product of 

 the crops. A second dressing will also be attend- 

 ed with some apparently good efit^ct ; but unless 

 that, and every succeedmg repetition, be accom- 

 panied with ample additions of farm-yard manure, 

 or other putrescent matter, to supply the loss thus 

 occasioned by the exhaustion of the vegetative 

 power, every future crop will be diminished. The 

 land is then necessarily thrown out of cultivation, 

 and left for a series of years to recover itself under 

 pasture, which, in the course of time, may be ef- 

 fected according to its former condition ; but in the 

 interim it is rendered nearly fruitless. It is thus 

 that many thousands of acres in every part of the 

 kingdom have been run to a state of' almost total 

 infertility ; and it is even said, that the too great 

 use of lime, though apparently judiciously'^cm- 

 ployed, by some of the first farmers'in the Lothians, 

 has been lately found very detrimental to their 

 crops. 



Marshlands, however, which have been drained 

 will generally support a repeated and abundant 

 application of lime, because they usually contain 

 a large proportion of matter upon which the stimu- 

 lating powers of lime are peculiarly adapted to act; 

 and it will be found much better suited to the pur- 

 pose than dung. On all rich, deep, dry, and loamy 

 soils It may also be applied with etlect ; for al- 

 though they contain within themselves the com- 

 potent parts of the best soils, yet they are frequent- 

 ly found to be sluggish and inert ; and duno- 

 whether through imperfect fermentation or owimr 

 10 the want of calcareous matter, often remain'^ 

 dormant m the land until roused by moderate 

 quantifies of quick-hme, which, if applied at dis- 



tant periods, will effectually operate to bring it in- 

 to activity. It should, however, be turned into the 

 ground some v.'eeks before the dung, in order that 

 it may become thoroughly slaked by mixture with 

 the soil, or otherwise it would have the efl^'ect of 

 abstracting some of its nutriment. Such soils, af- 

 ter the application of lime, produce much heavier 

 crops with a much smaller proportion ofdungthan 

 if no lime had been used, because the operation of 

 the latter acting upon the dung renders every por- 

 tion of it useful. 



Clay land shows an evident disposition to com- 

 bine with lime, and it bears the repetition of this 

 species of amelioration better than lighter soils. 

 When applied to heavy tillage land, either for the 

 purpose of reducing its cohesive properties, or of 

 supplying an additional quantity of' calcareous 

 matter, small dressings of lime will have but little 

 effect ; and if sand or calcareous earths are to be 

 employed, it is recommended, by a practical far- 

 mer of known experience, as more economical to 

 apply fhem separately than as a compost.* It 

 powerfully assists all adhesive soils ; and when laid 

 hot from the kiln upon deep clay, it has been 

 known to occasion a very large increase in the for- 

 mer crops. It has also been often observed, in fal- 

 lowing clayey soils, 'that, in wet weather, when a 

 dose of lime has been just given, the land contin- 

 ues more friable, and is less apt to bmd up on the 

 recurrence of drought than where it has been ne- 

 glected. The grain growing on the Avell-iimed 

 ground preserves its healthy appearance in wet sea- 

 sons, while that growing on land that has not been 

 limed is yellow and sickly.'t 



Upon sandy soils, which seldom abound much 

 in vegetable matter, lime has a mechanical opera- 

 tion, which, by combining with the finer particles 

 of the soil, gives consistence to the siaple of the 

 land, and attracting the moisture from tlie atmos- 

 phere, it imparts it so gradually as to be less liable 

 to be hurt by drought in those parching seasons by 

 which crops are injured. It is therefore said to be 

 cooling to hot land; but if it be not also mixed with 

 some portion of clay, with which it may combine, 

 it then is apt to unite itself with the sand, with 

 which it composes a kind of m.ortar, the efiijct of 

 which has been already described, and which can- 

 not be dissolved without much difliculty, and the 

 plough often brings hard lumps to the surlace of the 

 soil which cannot be easily broken. Thus when 

 such land has been frequently limed, nothing can 

 restore it but the abundant and reiterated applica- 

 tion of putrescent manure ; the demonstration of 

 which i.'S perceptible throughout many parts of 

 England, where from possessing a chalkv soil 

 witliout strength to maintain a sufficiency of live 

 stock to furnish dung, the land has in many places 

 been worn out through the inconsiderate use of'lime. 



On the exhaustion of land by ihc application of 

 lime there is, liowevcr. much difference of opinion. 

 It is indeed evident that the continuation of crop- 

 ping, without an addition of nutritive manure, will 

 ultimately exhaust the best soils ; but though their 

 natural fi^rtility be thus aided, it yet cannot depend 

 entirely on that support. This must be apparent 

 if we reflect that land, without any addition of ani- 

 mal or vegetable substance, will still produce crops : 



* Russell's Pract. and Chem. Agr, 



t Library of Useful Knowledge Farmer's Series, No. 

 12, Report of a Farm at Kyle, in Ayrshire. 



