FERTILIZERS. 239 



is the mode which is recommended and followed in France ; while in England, the first method 

 is recommended and is employed at intervals of from fourteen to sixteen years. It is evident, 

 when the amount of lime is added of from 250 to 300 bushels per acre, that more is applied than 

 can be taken from the soil by any kind of rotation of crops, for the periods named. May not 

 even a less quantity than the smallest here named suffice, and answer all the purposes which it 

 is possible for lime to accomplish ? Less capital will be required, which is an important consi- 

 deration, especially in the farming districts of this country. The differences in the character and 

 quality of the lime itself should not be lost fight of. Oyster-shell lime, or shell lime as it is 

 called, as well as the hydrated subcarbonate, is bulky ; is less caustic and less active by far than 

 stone lime : twenty-five bushels of stone lime from the kiln is fully equal to fifty bushels of 

 shell lime, as usually found in market. Shell lime maybe purchased for five cents per bushel, 

 while stone lime is worth from sixteen to twenty-two cents. So far as adding lime, as a simple 

 fertilizer, to the soil, the shell lime is the most profitable ; but the stone lime is more profitable, 

 provided it is employed upon a stifiF clay soil, and the principal object is to break up the clay 

 and liberate potash. 



The time for putting the lime upon the soil is not a matter of indifference. If added in a 

 caustic state, in the autumn, and well incorporated by the plough and harrow, the whole effect 

 of the lime is secured. For thorough liming, the autumn is the proper time, after the sod 

 is turned over, when to finish the operation it is to be incorporated by light dragging. Lime 

 has a tendency to sink into the soil, and hence there it will find its way to the roots of the 

 crop. Lime, when used as a top dressing, should be fully air slaked, or only its mild form ; 

 when thus used, it is designed mainly to supply the crop with a nutriment : lime, in this 

 condition, is remarkably well fitted to fulfil the ends for which it is used ; its extreme fine- 

 ness, its sparing solubility withal, are qualities which favor the use of this substance. 



The soils of New- York, as a whole, are deficient in lime. The new lands, though they are 

 not apparently benefited by it, still no injury will result from its use. It is not, however, 

 profitable to lime light soils, unless it is combined with other fertilizers. The southern district 

 of New- York is destitute of lime, and probably the lands require it ; analysis indeed proves this. 

 The northern district, particularly the interior, is also deficient in lime. There is, however, a 

 prospect of a supply in the primary limestone, which, though often impure, yet when magnesia 

 does not abound in it, will answer a good agricultural purpose. Pulverized limestone has been 

 occasionally tried as a fertilizer ; but it has the disadvantage of being comparatively coarse, 

 and the experiments have been made upon lands in which lime probably existed in sufficient 

 quantity to meet the wants of vegetation. Pulverized limestone, under favorable circum- 

 stances, will operate only slowly. It can hardly be doubted but that its effects must be useful, 

 though not very evident : it is the condition in which lime actually exists in all new soils. 

 Wc can not expect those effects which we witness in quicklime. 



Another variety of lime should not pass unnoticed : I allude to marl, a substance identical 

 in its composition to many of the limestones. The property which gives marl its superiority 

 to pulverized or ground limestone, is its fineness. We can hardly give credit to the view that 



