0?! Liming Land. 279 



to spread it in the autumn ; and either plough or har- 

 row it in. The next season I take only a summer crop. 

 Indian corn I think the best ; as its culture mixes the 

 lime most effectually with the soil. I have most fre- 

 quently put lime on in the spring ; and I have cropped 

 fields with winter- grain, when limed in the same sea- 

 son. I have sometimes succeeded with rye ; but when 

 wheat was sown on land fresh limed, I have invariably 

 suffered by mildew, smut, rust, or blight. I scarcely 

 remember an instance to the contrary. The crop is 

 retarded in its maturation, by the lime : and though it 

 shew^s a deep verdure, and large heads ; the former is 

 as deceptive as the blush of a hectic ; and the latter 

 seldom, or never fill,* Yet in some European books, I 



^ It would seem that the fresh lime, acting on the sub- 

 stances in the earth with ruinous energy, pressed on the plant 

 more food than it could digest or contain ; and produced 

 death by a fatal plethora. With a good glass one can plainly 

 discern the bursting of the vessels and the extravasation of 

 the sap, with all their consequences. The grain is shrivelled, 

 though the plant, until its catastrophe, appears to thrive. If 

 winter crops on fresh limed lands come to maturity, they 

 ripen late ; and their risks of mildev/ are increased. I have 

 observed this, even when dung is used with fresh lime. But 

 with lime alone on exhausted lands, where little or no vege- 

 table or animal matter is found in the soil, I have seen wheat 

 a starved and worthless plant. Summer crops only should be 

 sown on land fresh limed ; and Indian corn is the most suit- 

 able. When I repeat the liming, as I have generally done 

 with a greater quantity than that first applied, I commonly 

 take a crop of Indian corn in the year before wheat; to kill 

 the lime, according to the country phrase. The corn, being 



