APPLICATION TO THE SOIL. 41 



might say almost any thing, and support our theories 

 by high authority. We daily hear much said of lime 

 as a manure, and if implicit faith and trust are to be 

 put in English writers of eminence, lime must be con- 

 sidered an essential aid of the farmer. 



There cannot be much doubt that lime, in certain 

 cases, has been useful in agriculture. 



In England, it is often obtained at a rate quite cheap 

 compared with the cost in Massachusetts, and their 

 lime is said to be of a different quality from ours. It 

 is also a fact, that lime has often been used in Massa- 

 chusetts, without producing any apparently beneficial 

 result. 



Theorists disagree, toto celo^ as to the mode of its 

 operations ; but yet all theorists with whose writings 

 we happen to be familiar, strongly recommend the use 

 of lime. 



Some assert that lime operates much hke wood- 

 ashes ; that it is beneficial rather as a stimulant than 

 as an item to form a constituent part and parcel of the 

 plant to which it is applied ; while others contend that 

 it is an essential ingredient of some plants, one of which 

 is wheat, and that this grain cannot be raised without 

 it ; and, where there is a deficiency of the article in the 

 natural soil, this deficiency must be supplied from the 

 kiln. 



Some theorists assert that lime is a powerful decom- 

 poser of vegetable substances, and that it may be ad- 

 vantageously applied wherever wood-ashes is applied 

 with effect. 



Other theorists as gravely contend that lime retards 

 the decomposition of vegetable matter in the soil, and 

 therefore it is an important article in agriculture, pre- 

 serving for future use a store that might be too soon 

 expended by the draughts made upon it in our hot 

 seasons. 



Who shall decide when doctors disagree ? 



We are in want of experiments testing the value of 



