ON THE USE OF LIME, MARL, AND SHELL-SAND. 31 



On the exhausting Effects of Lime. 



The use of lime, like that of many other good things, is often 

 turned into abuse, and the failures which have resulted from the in- 

 judicious application of lime have brought this valuable fertilizer 

 into disrepute with some, who ascribe to it an exhausting effect. 



It is the opinion of some practical men that liming will render 

 ordinary manuring unnecessary, and the acting upon this prin- 

 ciple in many instances has done much injury. This, however, 

 is a great mistake. The fact is, lime applied by itself is incapable 

 of supplying all the wants of the growing plant, and is therefore 

 not calculated to supersede the use of farmyard-manure. If, not- 

 withstanding the non-application of any other manure than lime, 

 good crops have been raised, this fact proves simply that the 

 land has been in excellent condition. We can, however, con- 

 fidently predict that sooner or later the produce will gradually 

 sink, and at last the soil will cease to bear remunerative crops. 

 This is indeed so well known to practical men, that many consider 

 the use of lime prejudicial to the permanent productiveness of 

 the soil. When, however, care is taken to apply manure in 

 sufficient quantity to limed land, no fear ought to be entertained 

 that lime will exhibit any exhausting effects. We have seen that 

 lime, by rendering the hidden mineral treasures of the soil avail- 

 able to the immediate use of plants, especially by liberating 

 potash and soda from the insoluble combinations in which these 

 two alkalies exist, greatly increases the luxuriant growth of 

 plants. It has been shown, also, that it converts inert vegetable 

 substances into actual fertilizers, but that lime itself has not the 

 power of supplying all the substances which, through its instru- 

 mentality, are rendered available to plants. It follows therefore, 

 as a necessary consequence, that they will grow languidly as soon 

 as the supply of these fertilizing materials in the soil falls short. 

 Hence arises the necessity of supplying them in the form of 

 farmyard manure. If we wish to grow abundant crops we must 

 supply the materials necessary for their existence, and the more 

 liberally these are presented to the young plant the more likely- 

 are we to succeed. 



Lime certainly possesses the great advantage of rendering 

 available the inert fertilizing matters in the soil, and has also the 

 effect of bringing farmyard manure into a rapid action, but it 

 cannot itself supply the materials upon which it works. The use 

 of lime thus stimulates to a vastly increased produce, which must 

 draw largely on the resources of the soil. Now, as lime restores 

 only a small quantity of those substances which plants require, it 

 is most unreasonable to expect that the fertility of the land will 

 be maintained by lime alone. 



