122 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



English work, says, ' that he sows his wheat without laying 

 on any manure, but, early in the spring, gives a top-dressing 

 of twenty bushels of lime, pulverized, and mixed intimately 

 with forty bushels of sand ; and if the weather be d.y, he 

 doubles the quantity of sand.' We are disposed to believe 

 that at least lime enough for light top-dressings might be 

 easily procured by alniost every cultivator in the Union. 

 And such light dressings, if our theory is correct, would be 

 all that is indispensable to the production of wheat. 



With regard to the mode of applying lime, nothing can 

 be more simple. It should be evenly spread, after being 

 water slacked, on the surface of the soil, and not ploughed 

 in, or, if ploughed in, it should be with a very shallow fur- 

 row, because its tendency is to sink below the reach of culti- 

 vation. If used in a quick or burning state, it will be safest 

 to mix it with about double its quantity of sand, loam, clay, 

 or some other material. The additional material may be 

 made to correspond with the wants of the soil to which it is 

 applied. Thus, if the soil has too much clay, mix sand with 

 your lime : if too much sand, mix finely pulverized clay, &c. 



It is said that British farmers apply lime in great quanti- 

 ties directly from the kiln in its most caustic state, even to 

 land which is replete with putrescent or vegetable manure, 

 and run the risk of consuming or wasting the manure by its 

 corrosive qualities. But the soil of Great Britain is generally 

 wetter than ours, and of course the lime sooner becomes 

 mild. Besides, there is a great difference in the strength of 

 lime, and that of the United States may be, generally speak- 

 ing, stronger than the English lime. In short, we should 

 advise every farmer to use quicklime as manure, in small 

 quantities at first, mixed with a large proportion of earth, or 

 some other substance, to dilute it, and thus take care not to 

 burn his seed, his fingers, or his growing vegetables. And 

 with these precautions, we would make use of it for wheat 

 as a top-dressing in spring. We would likewise try it mixed 

 with wood ashes, together with earth ; for we have been 

 told by a practical farmer, that ashes and lime form a union 

 much more valuable than either separate. 



In an article on the culture of winter wheat, by R. H. 

 Gardener, Esq., of Gardiner, Maine, the writer observes, 

 * The cultivation of winter wheat is preferable to that of sum- 

 mer on a great variety of accounts. It is sown and the 

 ground prepared in a season of much greater leisure. One 

 of the great disadvantages of our northern climate is the 



