Vol. XIV. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y., MARCH, 1853, 



No. m. 



HOW LITTLE LIME IN A 



SOIL WILL SUFFICE 

 PURPOSES ? 



FOR ALL USEFUL 



There IS no question m agriculture more important than the one placed at the head of 

 this article. Many years ago the writer analyzed a large number of calcatous so fs for 

 he express purpose of satisfying his own mind what fs the maximum amount of ime 

 m land beyond which its presence does no good whatever ? These researches led to the 

 conclusion that two per cent, of the carbonate is as good as fourrs^ "^t ten o 

 tw nty, for all agricultural purposes. Indeed, the instances are rare where one per cent 

 of lime exists, that the addition of mo,e is beneficial, or pays the cost of the appl ca ot 

 Ra n water in passing through a stratum of earth which contains from U to 2^ p cent' 

 offreecarbonate of hme, becomes so charged with dissolved lime, (held in soluHon by 

 c^bonic acid derived partly from the atmosphere and partly from' tie decay hrve'ta 

 ble ma ter m the sod through which the water has percdated,) that tufa is form^ed when 

 he water emerges from the earth in springs. Tufa is a simple minial, aiTprecipka 

 ted carbonate oflime. The precipitation results from the iscape of the carbonTc^acid 



fromt:;^^;?'?/'^-^' '^f H. carbonate of Hme in soluLn, as tl^ wate^ nl^ 

 loni a .pnng. A case in point may be seen on the farm of Gen. Harmon, in Wheat- 

 land, Monroe county. The tufa, or marl, is there being formed at this t me as itt 

 xceZt It^r?- ':fl '"' the adjoining towns. ^N. never found aToil in th 

 excellent wheat district that contained over two per cent, of lime; nor does the use of 

 hme increase the crops on Gen. H.rmon's farm. For many yeas ^yps^m hi Teen 

 used to advantage by nearly all the farmers of Monroe and Uh" toTcoumies Th" 

 Srufat" in WJieatland in beds, but is not generally dimrsertirugrthe loi 

 the cht,'i 1 ^^"^tantly being formed, as is sulphuric acid, (one of its constituents,) by 



formed by the union of oxygen with sulphur, as the latter exists in combination with 

 All ;„.] '^ '"'" '^•'"'°' ''' ^'^''^' '^""^>^ ^^^°^« ^^^ter is charged with sulphuric acid. 



sand lTihT7 V-"'"'' ^^?^ ^'^'' "^"^' ^''"^ Sypsum. Now, thel-e are thou- 

 sands of soils that abound in iron, alumina, (the basis of all clay,) and sulphur or sul- 



Pho LT'JS "l 'ir 1 ^%'°'' ^'"^ '-^^^ ^^^"^^"^^ '' -i'« t^^t abound in the 

 rem h^ldt f I '\' V^os^l^^te of alumina, which lack the calcareous element 



required to form bone-earth, or phosphate of lime. 



Appreciating the value of gypsum and bones as fertilizers, the reader is prepared to 



rai::f :i th^"^"^''- "" f "^^ \^ ^" '^"-^^"^^ '^^''- ^J- ^-^^ ^^--t-ty th^t^ill neu- 

 tralize all the organic and mineral acids that may be developed in the soil, and have a 

 small excess of the alkaline earth, is the dose of marl or ime needed t^ secure the 

 highest possible benefit from its application. A soil may have one-tenth or nrtLth: ' 



