THE NEED OF LIME 



additions of organic matter in the form of clover 

 sods and stable manure, produced a natural re- 

 sult, but one that was not anticipated by the 

 farmers. The prejudice against the use of lime 

 on land has been based on the effects of this irra- 

 tional practice. 



There are land-owners who are not concerned 

 with present-day knowledge regarding soil acidity 

 because they cannot believe that it has any bear- 

 ing upon the state of their soils. They know that 

 clover sods were easily produced on their land 

 within their remembrance, and that their soils are 

 of limestone origin. As the clovers demand lime, 

 these two facts appear to them final. The failures 

 of the clovers in the last ten or twenty years they 

 incline to attribute to adverse seasons, poor seed, 

 or the prevalence of weed pests. They do not 

 realize that much land passes out of the alkaline 

 class into the acid one every year. The loss of 

 lime is continuous. Exhaustion of the supply 

 capable of combining with the harmful acids 

 finally results, and with the accumulation of acid 

 comes partial clover failure, a deficiency in rich 

 organic matter, a limiting of all crop yields, and 

 an inability to remain in a state of profitable 

 production. 



[15] 



