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



This soil has been limed in 1853 with 5 tons of lime to the 

 acre, and produced, in 1854, 20 bushels of wheat, in 1855 a crop 

 of barley, in 1856 oats ; in the winter of 1856 it was covered 

 with about 5 tons of manure per acre, and was growing in 1857 

 clover and oats. 



I abstain from making any remarks on these data, which to 

 the intelligent agriculturist speak volumes. 



On the Application of Lime to Peaty Soils on Land long out 

 of Cultivation. 



Practical men are all agreed that new land, or long pastured 

 land, should be heavily limed when brought into arable cultiva- 

 tion. On such land lime should be applied in no less quantities 

 than 150 bushels per acre ; and when it can be had at a cheap 

 rate it may even be used with advantage at the rate of 250 to 

 300 bushels per acre. 



Having pointed out the peculiar disorganizing action of quick- 

 lime on vegetable matter, greatly abounding in such land, it will 

 not be necessary again to enter into a lengthened discussion of 

 the causes of the beneficial effects which lime is capable of 

 producing under these circumstances. Suffice it to say that it 

 converts the abundance of vegetable substances in such soils into 

 food for plants, improving at the same time the physical condi- 

 tion greatly. 



Peaty soils especially will be greatly improved by a heavy 

 dressing of quick-lime ; and it is on such land that lime must be 

 used in large doses to produce at once a decidedly beneficial 

 effect* 



In peat land the proportion of organic matters often amounts 

 to from 50 to 60 per cent., and it is therefore evident that much 

 lime is required to effect the decomposition of so large a quantity. 

 It may be laid down as a general rule for our guidance, that the 

 greater the proportion of vegetable matter in the soil the more 

 safely lime can be employed in large doses. 



Land that has lain long in grass, when broken up is generally 

 full of couch, larvae of insects, and worms. A good dose of 

 quick-lime will be found most useful in destroying these nuisances 

 and converting them into food for plants. 



On inferior pasture land a dressing with lime and salt has the 

 effect of producing a finer herbage, and may therefore be used 



* Such is the immediate effect of a heavy dressing of lime upon cultivated peat 

 soils, that it is found practically useless without it to plant them with corn crops, 

 as the crops become lodged, and in many cases rotted upon the land ; while 

 succulent crops are very profitable. R. S. 



