68 FALLOWING. 



rate ofabout forty bushels to the acre. In Europe ten 

 times this quantity is frequently used. It is found that 

 the lands which have there been limed, are more pow- 

 erfully sliiiialated by the application of gypsum, than 

 those which have not. It is an easy matter for our far- 

 mers to ascertain how far it will be profitable for them 

 to use lirnc, by making experiments with a single cask. 

 But if too little, is applied the application may prove 

 usciess, and the whole expense be lost ; whereas, it 

 rarely hajjpens that injury is sustained from an excess, 

 especially if more or less dung is soon after administer- 

 ed. Mr. Anderson was firmly convinced, from repeated 

 observations, that lime and other calcareous manures, 

 produce a much greater proportional improvement upon 

 poor soils, than on such as are richer. And that lime 

 alone, upon a pof;r soil, will in many cases, produce a 

 much greater and more lasting degree of fertility, than 

 dung alone. Generally where lime is applied, a less 

 quantity of dung will answer. 



The best way to apply it, according to Mr. Picker- 

 ing, is to slake it with water, and as soon as it falls to a 

 fine powder and is cool, to spread it evenly over the 

 land, and with the harrow mix it with the soil immedi- 

 ately, and thoroughly. 



Lime having a tendency to sink in the soil, cannot be 

 kept too near the surface. The quality possessed by 

 lime ot producing a great degree of fermentation, ren- 

 ders it cf singular use in making composts ; operating 

 upon a heap of earth, in some degree, as yeast does upon 

 a quantity of flour or meal. If a handful of lime be thrown 

 upon a spot of iong rank grass, that has been rejected for 

 years, cattle will afterwards eat it close to the ground. 1 



Although lime is dearer in the first instance, than 

 plaster, yet as the former continues its powerful effects 

 for seven or eight years ; in the end it may be cheaper 

 in certain districts. 



tSea-shells^ when burnt, make a strong lime. The far- 

 mer can burn them with a trilling expense. For some 

 Sf.iis they may be partially burnt; but for light soils 

 they ma} be applied by merely breaking them. A thor- 

 ough dressing of shells enri< hes land for many years. 



Ashes. — The properties of ashes, from whatever de- 

 rived, are nearly the same. They are a valuable ma- 



