AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 121 



which the lime was applied produced wheat luxuriantly. It 

 would be easy to adduce many more instances to prove that 

 lime, in (Jreat Britain, is considered not only useful, but 

 indispensable for the production of wheat. A British farmer, 

 W3 believe, rarely undertakes to raise wheat loithout the use 

 of lime, and an American farmer as rarely undertakes to 

 raise it with the use of that substance for manure. 



If the foregoing premises are correct, it would seem not 

 impossible, and indeed scarcely improbable, that by the judi- 

 cious use of lime, or other calcareous substances, wheat may 

 be as well raised in New England as in the western states. 

 The subject is certainly of very great importance, and de- 

 serves repeated experiments. 



It will be objected against the use of lime, 1st, that it is 

 too dear to be used for manure ; and, 2dly, that our farmers 

 do not know how to apply it, and, as it is a powerful sub- 

 stance, it may do more harm than good, unless in the hands 

 of a ' hemist, or one practically acquainted with its operation. 

 With regard to the dearness of lime, we are informed that 

 there is no want of limestone in almost every part of the 

 United States ; and probably, by proper search, many more 

 limestone quarries might be discovered in New England 

 than are at present known. And the price of lime would, 

 doubtless, be diminished by increasing the demand, because 

 if great quantities were wanted for agricultural purposes, a 

 greater number of persons would find their account in making 

 a business of manufacturing it ; improvements would be in- 

 troduced in the processes connected with its manufacture, 

 and of course it would be afforded cheaper. Besides, small 

 quantities would alone be needed for the purpose of furnish- 

 ing that calcareous matter which nature inclines to incorpo- 

 rate into the substance of wheat, clover, &c., and probably a 

 top-dressing of two or three bushels to the acre would be of 

 essential benefit, though doubtless more would, generally, be 

 preferable. Mr. Young says ' a small quantity of quicklime 

 scattered on the surface of lands newly cleared will prove 

 highly beneficial during the whole length of time they re- 

 main untilled. Thirty bushels of shells [lime fresh from the 

 kiln] to the acre, slacked into a fine powder, will produce 

 the most surprising eflfects, if not on the first crop of wheat, 

 at all events, on the verdure, luxuriance, and quality of the 

 future pasture."^ A writer in the Museum Rusticum, an 



* Letters of Agricola. 

 11 



