.6. 



Lime. 



195 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Lime. 



Messrs. Editors, — Having had some ex- 

 ience in the application of magnesian 

 e, and from that experience being firmly 

 vinced, that large sums are annually 

 sted by farmers, who can but ill-afibrd it ; 

 only in cost of the lime, but in the ne- 

 ct of vegetable and animal manures, 

 ^ch the high encomiums on lime cause 

 m to pass by; and honestly believing that 

 , advocates for magnesian lime are doing 

 ch harm, with the best motives, I have 

 itten this rambling communication, with 

 least equally good intentions. I do not 

 \ that lime may never be wanting in a 

 . But I do believe, that in the primitive 

 pations of Chester county, 50 bushels to 

 ,'acre are enough for 50 years ; — plaster of 

 is in small quantities, being in my esti- 

 ;ion, all the mineral required. And here 

 me ask, Where is the proof that more 

 fe is required than gypsum ? As to " Lan- 

 ier county farmer's" analysis, it proves 

 fling. Plain farmers, like the most of us, 

 hot even tell what proportion of wheat is 

 pnesia, unless he informs us how many 

 lasand pounds of wheat were required to 

 j^uce the one hundred of ashes'? But surely 

 pes not prove that land requires 30 or 40 

 pels of magnesia to the acre — more espe- 

 ly when he informs us, that magnesia is 

 i,e of the primitive earths, which form all 

 k" And as they do not .use magnesia in 

 |land, it must have been in the soil, as na- 

 fe formed it. I think chemists find more 

 (sum in clover, than either lime or magne- 

 nn wheat; and less gypsum in most soils, 

 ii carbonate of lime. Would a " Lancaster 

 tnty farmer" on that account, advise us to 

 |ly 100 bushels of plaster to the acre? Is 

 Slot strange, that none of the advocates for 

 Kesian lime, have ever shown us by fair 

 Jeriment, its great benefits ? If they have, 

 tas surely not been in the Farmers' Cabi- 

 I think the experience of Mr. Kirk- 

 J.e, and one or two other disinterested 

 [ ( i are given, in which the part limed was 

 r^er worse, or at least no better, if treated 

 k:e in other respects ; and that is the only 

 B way to test it. 



, have repeatedly offered $100 to any of 

 I neighbours, that would show to compe- 

 te judges, where a second application of 

 i.jnesian lime, (no difference how long 

 Mre, or in how small quantities the first 

 tdication was made,) had done any good 

 Utever. But would any man be foolish 

 ■- ugh to make the same offer, if plaster, 

 fes, vegetable or animal manure was used? 

 I , say the advocates for magnesian lime, 



look at the great improvement in the soil of 

 South-eastern Pennsylvania, by the use of it. 

 Indeed, a man unacquainted with agriculture 

 might think, after reading some of their com- 

 munications, that we had nothing to do but 

 spread magnesian lime, and reap wheat — as 

 I have heard farmers say, you may sow ashes 

 and mow white clover ; never having heard, 

 perhaps, that those most successful in raising 

 wheat, plough down clover, frequently with 

 a good coat of stable manure, or compost into 

 the bargain — taking care never to raise two 

 dry crops in succession. I inquired of a 

 Lancaster county iarmer, one of the best in 

 the county, how he contrived to grow so 

 much wheat on his farm ? His reply was, 

 " by ploughing down clover — we can do no- 

 thing without that." 



And I will here state, without fear of con- 

 tradiction, that when I came to this neigh- 

 bourhood, seventeen or eighteen years since, 

 there was very little wheat grown, — not one- 

 fifth of the present crop ; no cattle fed, that 

 could be called fat, unless stalled — where 

 there are now five hundred of the best qua- 

 lity, fed on grass alone : and yet there was 

 then more lime used, and had been for years, 

 than at present: but there was not much 

 clover sowed, very little plaster, and no ex- 

 ertion made to procure vegetable or animal 

 manures : ploughing down clover was never 

 thought of. I have not limed any for nine 

 or ten years; as about that time I commenc- 

 ed reading agricultural works, in which I 

 perceived much more stress laid on vegetable 

 and animal manures, and an improved sys- 

 tem of cultivation, than on lime. Farmers 

 in England and Flanders, (the best cultivated 

 countries,) lauding turnips to the skies ; but 

 consigning magnesian lime to what Dilly 

 Jones calls " the dark cellars of popular es- 

 timation." 



Here permit me to acknowledge the great 

 obligations I am under to the Farmers' Cab- 

 inet, and other agricultural works ; they 

 have returned the money expended for them, 

 some hundred fold. And although some- 

 what out of place here, I must further say, 

 we could not raise a peach on my farm, until 

 I followed the plan of wrapping the buts 

 with straw, as directed in the Cabinet. We 

 now have as good fruit as can be produced 

 in the State of Delaware. 



But to return : since I have quit liming, 

 I have improved my farm much faster than 

 before. But, say the limers, your land is 

 just now showing the effect of the limings 

 given it twelve or fourteen years ago ! This 

 reminds me of a conversation I had with a 

 German friend, not long since. Well my 

 friend, said I, that field of corn does not look 

 quite so good as the one without lime ! " I 



