196 



Lime. 



Vol. i 



know that," said he, " but lime does no good 

 at first — it must have something to act on ; 

 wait until I plough down a good sod of clover 

 and give it a dressing with stable manure ; 

 and then you will see what the lime will do." 

 This, of course, was unanswerable. But I 

 will add, that my most productive land has 

 had the least lime ; some of it, none, since I 

 have been on the farm. One of my friends 

 had some grass land, that had run out, as 

 they say ; and as the ground was rocky and dif- 

 ficult to plough, he was advised to lime it on 

 the sod. Some years after, I asked him how 

 it answered: His reply was, "not quite so 

 well as if I had tilted it into the creek ; as 

 in that case I should have saved the spread- 

 ing." 



Another friend residing in Philadelphia, 

 whose father has a country seat up the 

 Schuylkill, informed me, that several of their 

 neighbours and themselves, commenced 

 making experiments at the same time with 

 magnesian lime ; and all — I think there were 

 five or six of them — came to the conclusion, 

 that it was of no use whatever, applied to 

 land. 



But, say the advocates for magnesian lime, 

 show us your new system — your vegetable 

 and animal manures — your plaster and clo- 

 ver, ditching and draining, without lime. 

 Well, gentlemen, to please you, I will select 

 a farm, easy to find, near West Chester, Pa., 

 with a good rail road from everywhere to it. 

 Perhaps some of you have seen an account 

 of the products of a Chester county farm, in 

 the Village Record, when the Hon. Charle; 

 Miner was editor. They were very great ; 

 but as I only w T rite from memory, I will not 

 pretend to give particulars ; but you may be 

 sure, it was one of the best, or Mr. Miner 

 would not have sent the account over the 

 world. The farm selected, belongs or did 

 belong, to Eusebius Townsend. You will 

 say, that farm is near the great valley, and 

 Mr. Townsend, or some one before him, ap- 

 plied large quantities of lime. This is just 

 what I thought myself at the time; but upon 

 inquiry, two or three years since, I was in- 

 formed, that it had not had one bushel of 

 lime, within the memory of that noted per- 

 sonage, — the oldest inhabitant. And here 

 permit me to remark, the best farms in Ches- 

 ter county are not lime-stone land, by any 

 means. They are found in Goshen town- 

 ship, and among the hills of Brandy wine. 



Let me be understood ; I do not say pure 

 carbonate of lime is useless, — having none 

 within my reach, I have never tried it. But, 

 certainly it must require but a small quan- 

 tity, if, as we are told, some of the very best 

 wheat soils in England, contain but one or 

 two per cent, of lime. If other soils have 



yielded 15 or 20 per cent, of pure lim 

 only proves that pure carbonate of lime 

 not destroy vegetation, which is more 

 can be said for magnesian lime. But 

 Lewis says, it requires less magnes 

 than pure lime, and for that reason the r 

 nesian is cheaper. Now, how did he 

 that it requires less? Not by trying e 

 quantities of each, but from the well kn 

 fact, that it required less magnesian lin 

 destroy vegetation, than the pure carbor 

 If one pint of brandy will destroy hu 

 life, does it prove that a gill of it will 

 man more good than a gill of milk, of wj 

 he may drink a quart with impunity? 

 finally uses Mr. Webb up by asking, if 

 bushels pure lime to the acre, will do 

 times as much good as 60 bushels maj 

 sian 1 I do not think 600 bushels of ei 

 would do much good, but I think the n 

 nesian would do the most harm. Col 

 Brooking, when asked which of his 1 

 was best, replied there was no best am 

 them, but he rather thought Harry 

 worse than Tom. 



If Mr. Webb had said wonders have I 

 produced by the use of clover, plaster, 

 an improved system of farming, in spit 

 magnesian lime, he would have been nei 

 the mark. Although, I must confess tl 

 can be shown many places in this vicir 

 where magnesia has gained the victory, 

 reduced the crops at least one-third. 



But there is nothing made in vain ; we 

 know it makes good mortar, and perl 

 might be useful in destroying the Canac 

 thistle, if the cure is not considered wi 

 than the disease. Perhaps the Magnesi 

 will ask, how can it be possible, that 

 many of our intelligent farmers have b 

 so long mistaken ? I will answer that qi 

 tion by asking another. How was it pc 

 ble our intelligent physicians should h 

 persevered for some hundred years, in p( 

 ing hot teas down the throats of feverish 

 tients, who were crying for a drop of ( 

 water to cool their tongues, and have o 

 but lately discovered that what they so cs 

 fully kept from them, was the very th 

 that would have saved their lives ! 



But I have some hopes of the limers y 

 I think they begin to see "something rot 

 in the state of Denmark." When I usee 

 follow the trade of liming, the plan was 

 harrow it in, on ploughed ground, as soon 

 slacked ; but I discover they now leave it 

 heaps, from one month to twelve, and tl 

 spread it on the sod. Go on gentlemer 

 am with you there, I acknowledge it v 

 not do quite so much harm, " cooked tl 

 way — its the seasoning that does it." 

 As I may receive a gold plough wit! 



