BY MINERAL MANURES. 83 



sing of lime has an admirable effect.* The soils indica- 

 ted by a natm*al growth of black oak, [quercus tinctoria,} 

 walnut, {juglans nigra,) and poplar, {liriodendron,) — • 

 and those in which such grasses as the poas and festucas 

 best flourish, are generally most signally benefited by the 

 use of lime. In short, I may observe, that lime has been 

 found more or less beneficial in every description of soil 

 in this district. 



It is most so on hilly or rolling lands, where clay pre- 

 dominates, — less permanently so among the mica slate, — 

 and least of all on the magnesian rocks. The soil on 

 these last is rarely w^orth cultivating. 



Query 2. " What quantity of lime is applied to the 

 acre J upon different soils j at a single dressing , and during 

 a period of years ?" 



Answer. The quantity of lime, per acre, which can 

 be used advantageously, varies with the condition and 

 original character of the soil. Highly-improved land will 

 bear a heavier dressing than poor land. On a soil of 

 medium condition the usual dressing is 40 to 50 bushels 

 per acre. A deep, rich soil, or limestone land in the 

 great valley, will receive 70 to 80 (and I am told even 

 100) bushels to the acre with advantage. On very poor 

 land, 20 to 30 bushels per acre is deemed most advanta- 

 geous to commence with. It is usually repeated every 

 five or six years — i. e., every time the field comes in turn 

 to be broken up with the plough ; and as the land improves 

 the quantity of lime is increased. The prevailing prac- 

 tice here is, to plough down the sod, or ley, in the fall 

 Or early in the spring — harrow it once — and then spread 

 the lime (previously slaked to a powder) preparatory to 

 planting the field with Indian corn. Every field, in rota- 

 tion, receives this kind of dressing ; and as our farms are 



* The yard manure is not usually mingled with the lime, when the 

 latter is first applied. The practice is, to lime the Indian corn ground, 

 prior to planting that grain, on the inverted sod, — and, the ensuing 

 spring, to manure the same field for a barley crop, — or, to reserve the 

 manure until the succeeding autumn, and apply it to the wheat crop. 

 It is not well settled which of these is the better practice. Each has 

 its advocates ; but it is most usual to reserve the manure for the 

 wheat. 



