No. 8. 



Magnesian Lime. 



251 



pressions, of pure lime also. Now can it 

 be possible, that this writer can be so wedded 

 to his own notions, backed by a few corrobo- 

 rating circumstances, as to imagine that his 

 views on the subject can ever be endorsed 

 by an intelligent and experienced public 1 

 Well might the supposed query of the Mag- 

 nesians occur to his mind : — " How can it be 

 that so many of our intelligent farmers have 

 been so deceived 7" But I do not believe 

 that he could so easily answer that question 

 to their satisfaction as to his own. T have 

 no idea, that his views on the subject will 

 draw in the reins of a single team, of the 

 hundreds engaged in hauling lime and lime- 

 stone, in Lancaster, Chester and Delaware 

 counties, and composed of as fine di aught 

 hiorses as could be found in any other three 

 adjoining counties in the Union, maitgre 

 the far-fetched theory, that they had been 

 eating and drinking in, the insidious and 

 poisonous effects of magnesian lime, ever 

 since the day of their frisking and gambol- 

 ing by the sides of their robust and sturdy 

 dams. 



That lime acts more or "ess advantage- 

 Dusly on different soils, will be readily con- 

 ceded, as well as that on some soils, it is 

 entirely inert; but this I suspect is very 

 rare. That there may be also worn-out 

 land, naturally of good quality, but owing 

 ;o its locality, out of the reach of artificial 

 nanure, thus compelling the owners to avail 

 ;hemselves of the only means within their 

 power for improvement, is most strikingly 

 sxemplified in the neighbourhood of Deer 

 creek. Long since the recollection of the 

 writer, the crop of wheat seldom repaid the 

 costs of cultivation ; and a fat bullock, ex- 

 cept for family use, was more rare than are 

 3 to 800 now, annually fatted for market; — 

 ind this improvement has all been brought 

 ibout by the very means proposed : namely, 

 plaster, clover, ploughing in the latter, and 

 in increased attention to making and saving 

 manure. I could name individuals who had 

 brought their lands to a state of productive- 

 ness not often surpassed, yet since the fa- 

 cility of getting lime, and being further 

 spurred on by a visit during the last spring, 

 through Chester and Delaware counties, 

 and becoming convinced to their own entire 

 satisfaction, have since commenced liming 

 with great spirit. My next neighbour, a 

 practical farmer, having brought his lands 

 to a high state of cultivation, and whom I 

 have often heard say that he would not give 

 one bushel of plaster for 100 of lime, has got 

 rid of his scepticism, and is also now liming 

 largely, say from 3 to 4000 bushels per an- 

 num. His first experiment commenced two 

 or three years ago, on a field of about 20 



acres, being part of a tract of poor, worn-out 

 land, he had then recently purchased at 

 about three dollars per acre. His crop of 

 hay on this field the last season, was not 

 much short of 40 tons. He has since limed 

 nearly the whole of this farm, which pro- 

 mises an equal return to his industry and 

 enterprise. Similar conclusive instances 

 might be multiplied without limit, among 

 which there is one other, having a direct 

 bearing upon the erroneous opinion, that 

 "a second liming has no good effect," with 

 which I must beg the indulgence of tax- 

 ing the patience of my reader. I had 

 some business during the past summer with 

 our estimable Chief Judge, S. A., who had 

 been for 10 or 15 years in the way of getting 

 lime delivered to him at 28 to 30 cents per 

 bushel ; I found him in his meadow with 

 five or six mowers, apparently luxuriating 

 in the pleasure of converting a poor worn- 

 out old field, formerly washed into gullies, and 

 covered over with nothing but sedge grass, 

 into one now yielding to the scythe a swarth 

 that might well satisfy a Chester county 

 farmer. I made some remark upon the 

 abundance of the crop, to which he replied, 

 " this is the effect of a second liming," — re- 

 peating with a smile, a saying which he had 

 often heard, "that if the first liming put a 

 man in jail, the second would take him out 

 again." He assured me, that wherever he 

 had given his land a second liming, the ef- 

 fects were equally striking, and that his 

 crop of corn the preceding year, on a field 

 of about 15 acres, had yielded 55 bushels to 

 the acre. His then growing crop of corn 

 was on a field which had been limed the 

 first time, about four years since, succeeded 

 the next year by corn, the spring following 

 by oats and clover, and shortly after cutting 

 the oats, a second dressing of lime was ap- 

 plied. From the appearance of the growing 

 crop, I have no doubt the product must have 

 been from 50 to 60 bushels to the acre. A 

 great portion of the farm presented equal 

 evidences of improvement : but the most 

 surprising part is yet to be told. This farm 

 consists of about 400 acres, the soil naturally 

 not the best. At the time he commenced 

 liming, he had not for 10 years previous, 

 owing to its poverty, pretended to cultivate 

 anything more than a potatoe and corn-patch, 

 which with a few tons of swamp hay, consti- 

 tuted his stock of provender for a horse and 

 a few cows. He appeared very much to re- 

 gret having lost 10 years of improvement. 

 At the commencement, for want of experi- 

 ence, he had put on some lime in too wet a 

 state, and it did no good; his neighbours dis- 

 couraged him, by telling him " the soil was 

 too poor to improve by lime, it must first 



