194 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Fitchburg, who died a few months ago, used to call to see 

 me almost every summer. I remarked to him on one occa- 

 sion that I was just going to mow the poorest piece of herd's 

 grass I had on the place, and it was the last. He watched 

 us mowing it, and he said it was the cleanest and handsomest 

 piece of herd's grass that he ever saw, and the grass had 

 stayed there seven years without any top-dressing. I have 

 grown beets on that very land where the heavy grass grew, 

 and a better crop of Edmand beets I never sa^v, and they 

 were sown the last of June. A great many of them were 

 too large for the market. 



Mr. Trask. 8ui)pose you have not ammonia and litmus 

 paper handy, isn't there something in the growths on your 

 land, either shrub or of herb, that will give you some indi- 

 cation of its sourness? For instance, along the roadside 

 and in bushy ground you frequently see little maples, witch 

 hazels, asters and various other plants with red leaves at the 

 top. Does that indicate that the soil is sour, or that any- 

 thing is needed in the land ? 



Dr. Wheeler. I think there is no doubt but that a cer- 

 tain class of vegetation will succeed well on an acid soil ; 

 certain other plants are almost never found on an acid soil ; 

 so that observations of natural vegetation will often lead one 

 to know whether the soil is acid or not. 



Question. Is sorrel an indication ? 



Dr. Wheeler. Yes, although it will grow on a mortar 

 bed, and we have had it growing on top of a pile of lime. 

 In large quantities it is usually an indication of acid soil. 



Mr. Sessions. I want to suggest one thing. I think 

 Mr. Ware asked about the relative value of air-slacked lime 

 and other lime, — whether there is any difference. 



Dr. Wheeler. We use one or the other, dependent on 

 the cost. If I were working on sandy soil, I should prefer 

 lime in wood ashes or lime air slacked, for they are not 

 so alkaline. If air slacked a long time, I would rather 

 have it on sandy soil, but on clay with sour humus I would 

 take water-slacked lime in prefm-once to air-slacked Hme. 

 In regard to the strawberry matter, I think both gentlemen 



