108 LIME. 



We are daily more satisfied with these conchisions 

 as we converse with practical men on the subject. 

 We have discussed the subject this winter repeatedly 

 at our agricultural meetings in the state-house, where 

 numerous farmers were present, and the testimony of 

 these is nearly unanimous, that lime, on our sandy 

 loams, is not in general useful ; and when any member 

 has attempted to prove the case to be other than as 

 above stated, he has admitted that he used lime by 

 casting it first on a manure-heap ! 



At our public meeting in the state-house on Thurs- 

 day evening, the 7th instant, Mr. Chase Pease, a mem- 

 ber of the house from Martha's Vineyard, gave an 

 account of a piece of low, interval land, on which he 

 had strewed a quantity of effete lin}e. He said it had 

 a wonderful ejffect ; that it was sown on without any 

 mixture of manure, or other substance, and that, instead 

 of a very poor crop of sour grass, he for several years 

 after the application of the lime cut a large swath of 

 excellent sweet grass for hay. 



Suspecting at once the reason of this wonder- 

 working power in lime, we asked Mr. P. if the land 

 was not full of iron ore ? He replied that it was. 

 That you could see the ore clearly in every part of the 

 lot, and particularly where little puddles of water 

 stood. 



We think from these premises we have a right to 

 conclude that in general we cannot become richer by 

 purchasing lime for our sandy loams ; that the in- 

 stances proved of its good effects were such only as we 

 have stated, and that we can be much better employed 

 than in purchasing lime in large quantities to enrich or 

 correct our soil. We have all unlimited means, if we 

 will use them, of rendering our lands fertile, and with- 

 out purchasing one load of manure. 



We have only to fill our soils with vegetable matter, 

 and especially those abounding in clay, to render them 

 mellow and pliable. There is no mistake in this 



