CROPS AND SOIL IMPROVEMENT 



a few seconds and rinsed with rain-water, if any 

 pink shows, there is free acid present. Another 

 sheet should be taken out in five minutes. The 

 rapidity with which the color changes, and the 

 intensity of the color, are indicative of the degree 

 of acidity, and aid the judgment in determining 

 how much lime should be used. If a sheet of the 

 paper retains its blue color in the soil for twenty 

 minutes, there probably is no lime deficiency. 

 The test should be made with samples of soil from 

 various parts of the field, and they should be taken 

 beneath the surface. One just criticism of this 

 test is that while no acidity may be shown, the 

 lime content may be too low for safety. 



A Practical Test. --The importance of alkalin- 

 ity in soils is so great, and the prevalence of acid- 

 ity has such wide-spread influence to-day, limiting 

 the value of the clovers on a majority of our farms, 

 that a simple and more convincing test is suggested 

 here. Every owner of land that is not satisfac- 

 torily productive may learn the state of his soil 

 respecting lime requirement at small expense. 

 When a field is being prepared for seeding to the 

 grain crop with which clover will be sown, a plat 

 containing four square rods should be measured 

 off, and preferably this should be away from the 



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