1836.] 



FARJMERS' REGISTER, 



499 



From the 3d vol. of Memoirs of tlio Board of Agriculture of 

 the stiiie of New York. 



OIV THE USE OP JAME IN AGRICULTURE. 



Lime has been lonfjand profitably used in .come 

 of the coimiies of Peim?ylvania. in the business 

 of husbandry. It, has stood the test, of experience, 

 and many farmers who had abstained from its use, 

 on the introduction of gypsum, are again resort- 

 ing to it, we are told, as the cheapest and surest 

 means of increasing fertility to the soil. We be- 

 lieve that, on trial, its use will be found no less 

 beneficial in New York than it has proved in 

 Pennsylvania, and in Great Britain. At all 

 events, as lime exists in great abundance in most 

 of our counties, it is of importance that the ques- 

 tion shoidd be settled by careful and rep'eated ex- 

 periments. 



The importance of the subject induced tis to 

 write to Pennsylvania, for such inlbrniations as 

 might serve to guide us in the application of this 

 useful fossil for the improvement of our fiirms. 

 The two letters which follow have been received 

 in reply to our inquiries. They come from prac- 

 tical farmers— and altiioush the information which 

 they contain is not so full as we wished,' it is ne- 

 vertheless sufficient, we hope, to induce the enter- 

 prizing cultivators of our state to give the subject 

 a fair experiment. 



It may not be amiss to state the qualities of the 

 Pennsylvania lime-stone, and to remark, that we 

 shall endeavor to obtain an analysis of specimens 

 of our own state ; which, if we obtain in time, 

 shall be inserted in a subsequent page of this vol- 

 ume. Profijssor (now President) Cooper exam- 

 ined specimens of the former, obtained from nine 

 different localities. The results of the analyses 

 were as follows : — 



Pure Silex. Alu- Carb. of 

 lime. mina. Mag. 



No. 1—100 parts gave 83 3 2 12 

 2 „ „ 81 8 2 14 



4 



^ J> 3) 



6 „ . „ 



7 



Of these, No. 7 is regarded as the strongest for 

 building or for land, and No. 9 the weakest. The 

 first four are strong lime — five and six of medium 

 quality, and No. 8 nearly equal to No. 7 : that is 

 accordinijto their reputation in the neighborhood.* 

 Magnesia, in the proportions indicated in the fore- 

 going results, is not prejudicial to vegetation ; — 

 though a greater proportion (22 percent.) has, ac- 

 cording to Tennant, been found injurious in Great 

 Britain. 



Letter from Cyrus Jacobs, E'iq. datzd Spring j 

 Grove Forge, Nov. 8, 1824. j 



J. BuEL, Esq. 



Dear Sir — In answer to your queries about 

 lime, I have to inform you that, until within the I 



* See Memoirs of the Pliiladelphia Agriculturaf So- | 

 ciety, Vol. S, p. 106 of Appendix. i 



last two or three )'en.rs, it was but little used as a 

 manure in this neighborhood; it is now more used, 

 and on all soils ; some farmers put on first, from 

 thirty to forty bushels per acre, and in two or three 

 years afterwards, about the same quantity ; the 

 general opinion is here, it operates on corn and 

 clover the soonest. It is put on the land in dif- 

 ferent ways here ; but generally the land is first 

 plou.crhed, and the liine hauled out of the kiln be- 

 f()re it has slacked, and put on in about one bushel 

 in a heap ; and as soon as it is slacked, spread 

 immediately, and harrowed twice over and then 

 ploughed in ; and in dry weather it often happens 

 that we have to haul water to slack it. Others 

 have the ground all ready for seeding, and haul 

 the lime and put it on the same way, and as soon 

 as slacked, spread it and harrow it twice over, and 

 then sow the seed and harrow it twice over again, 

 v.'hich mixes it very well and keeps it near the 

 surface of the ground: this method I think the best; 

 both the above methods are here used. I have had 

 put on my land this season between seventeen and 

 eighteen thousand bushels of lime, and have put it 

 on in both the abov^e wa3-s, and have not put on 

 less than sixty or seventy bushels peracre, nor more 

 than one hundred. I have no hesitation iu saying, 

 that I have experienced fifty per cent, benefit in 

 corn and grass ; in our wheat crops I cannot yet 

 so well jud>re the benefit, not having iimcd my 

 land more than two years past, but have not the 

 least doubt but I shall be amply repaid for all the 

 c'ost'and trouble of the lime. Our lands here are 

 nearly all limestone land, and of a good quality, 

 and will bear more lime than land of a poorer 

 quality ; but it is the ireneral opinion ttrat the poor- 

 er soils agree best witii lime, and receive the most 

 benefit from it ; and no doubt it is the case. Some 

 are of the opinion that limestone land is not 

 much benefited with lime, particularly for wheat 

 crops, though that is not my opinion ; and should 

 I be snared a few years, 1 shall be better able to 

 judo'e, as I have, ibr these last two years, been 

 liming my land on a tolerably large scale ; and 

 have not the least doubt but I shall be fiilly recom- 

 pensed for it, both in my wheat crops and other 

 grain ; in corn we have already experienced the 

 profit. 



I remain, dear sir, very respectfully, your hum- 

 ble servant, 



CYRUS JACOBS. 



Letter from Daniel Buckley, Esq. dated Salisbury, 

 Fa. Dec. 10, 1824. 



J. BuEL, EsiQ. 



Dear Sir — I recei\'ed your favor of the 16th No- 

 vember, requesting information as to the effects of 

 lime upon various soils, the methods of applica- 

 tion, its duration as av manure, on what crops moat 

 immediately useful, and on what remotely, the 

 quantity applied, and at what intervals repeated, 

 the price, &c. A want of confidence in my abili- 

 ty to answer these queries suitably, will compel 

 me to confine my remarks principally to the 

 sphere of my practice and personal observation. 



The land which I cultivate, accordino; to M'- 

 Clure's treali,=:e, is transition, composed of while 

 and yellow clay and lime-stone, much of the lat- 

 ter appearinor on the surface, intermixed with flint. 

 Uoon this soil i have made a liberal uea of lime 



