2 lf> On Manure*. 



5. Mode of prcparinrj it for Use. Limestone is burnt in 

 kilns of various constructions, and with various sorts of fuel, 

 as coal, peat( il5 ), furze, or faggots. It is applied with 

 advantage, in a caustic state, to soils recently reclaimed; but 

 is generally slaked, by throwing water upon the lumps, until 

 they crack and swell, and fall down into a fine powder ( ai6 ). 

 This operation, when it is to be done, should not be delayed, 

 for, if properly calcined, limestone is easily reduced to pow- 

 der, which may not be the case, if the slaking be postponed. 

 If water cannot easily be obtained, the lumps may be divi- 

 ded into small heaps, and either covered with earth, by the 

 moisture of which they are soon pulverized ; or they may be 

 made into large heaps, the lumps and earth in alternate 

 strata, the former four inches, the latter six inches thick, and 

 the whole covered with earth. Where it can easily be had, it 

 is a great advantage, to slake the calcined limestone for ma- 

 nure, with the sea-water ( Zl7 ). 



6. Application. Summer is the proper season for applying 

 lime, for the land ought not only to be dry, but the surface as 

 free from moisture as possible, so as to promote the equal dis- 

 tribution of the manure. That experienced farmer, Mr Ren- 

 nie of Pliantassie, was of opinion, that the most profitable period 

 for applying lime is, when the land is under summer fallow, 

 in the months of June and July, that it may be completely 

 mixed with the soil before the crop is sown, and when the 

 soil is thoroughly pulverized. It was a favourite maxim with 

 the celebrated George Culley, " that the land should be in a 

 " powder, and the lime in a powder also." Fora turnip crop, 

 lime should be laid on in the spring, or early in summer, 

 that it may be thoroughly incorporated with the soil, by the 

 ploughings and harrowings it will receive before the turnips 

 are drilled (* l8 ). The land will thus have time to cool, and 

 the lime will not dry up the moisture necessary for bringing 

 the turnips into leaf, or destroy the young plants. If it can- 

 not be done earlier, when the turnips are nearly fit for the 

 second hoeing, lime should be worked into the land by means 

 of scufflers, or small ploughs passing between the rows; for it 

 has been observed, that with the aid of lime, turnips maintain 

 their growth to a later, period in the autumn, and preserve a 

 fresher leaf throughout the winter, than otherwise they would 

 do. When lime is applied to old ley, it is a good practice, to 

 spread it on the surface, previously to the land being broken 

 up, by which it is fixed firmly on the sward. The applica- 

 tion of lime in this manner, one year before ploughing, has been 

 found of use ; but when applied three years before, greate" 



