J. E. TESCHEMAOHER'S ADDRESS. 619 



Bartlett states, that several farmers in his brother's vicinity, in 

 Illinois, had nsed lime and thereby reduced their land to a 

 sterile state. The other actions of lime on soils, are unsettled, 

 even in the chemist's laboratory ; practically, in the field they 

 amount to little else than probable surmises. Lime is advan- 

 tageous when used judiciously, but this requires considerable 

 knowledge and practice; it should always be put on the land 

 very sparingly. Where lime is wanted for a crop, such as 

 clover, and there is none in the soil, the form of plaster appears 

 a more safe way of applying it. Leached and inileached ashes 

 containing potash or soda, are nearly as antagonistic to ammo- 

 nia as lime. Potash is more valuable in the arts than as ma- 

 nure j not so soda; they should be used even on the land in 

 very moderate quantities at a time. On sandy soils, leached 

 and unleached ashes will much assist a good growth of grass, 

 because the ingredients of the ashes help to dissolve the silex 

 of which the land is composed, and silex is one of the main 

 builders up of the stem and leaf of all grasses and grains, — they 

 cannot grow without ; but yet it is questionable whether grass 

 made of unusual growth by containing a large quantity of silex, 

 is good for cattle ; and at all events, the other ingredients, par- 

 ticularly those to form the seeds, should be abundantly sup- 

 plied at the same time, as there is no nourishment in silex. 



After a heap, formed in this manner of about ten or twelve 

 feet high and well protected, has lain three or four years, it 

 will of course have sunk to about half this height ; in other 

 words, the manure will have become condensed and consoli- 

 dated ; it will cut through like a dark compact black heavy 

 saponaceous mass ; all the vegetable matter will be thoroughly 

 carbonized, and saturated with ammonia and other alkalies, 

 with the phosphates and all the richest elements of manure. 

 It may now be ploughed deep into the soil in liberal quanti- 

 ties at a time, and unlike the light manure usually put on the 

 land which is soon dried up into powdery particles and blown 

 all over the country, it will retain moisture and all its other 

 valuable qualities with the utmost tenacity ; it will after some 

 years form a stratum several inches thick of rich retentive soil, 

 well adapted, with annual properly selected dressings, to pro- 



