222 TALKS ON MANURES. 



name that has been given it, namely, that of a 'stimulant ' ; for its 

 application would be in some sort an application of ammonia, 

 whilo its excessive application, by driving off ammonia, would 

 lead to all the disastrous effects which are so justly attributed to it. 

 "I do not wish to push this assumption too far," says Prof. 

 Way, in conclusion, " but if there be any truth in it, it points out 

 the importance of employing lime in small quantities at short in- 

 tervals, rather than in large doses once in many years." 



" Tho Squire, last year," said the Deacon, "drew several hundred 

 bushels of refuse lime from the kiln, and mixed it with his ma- 

 nure. It made a powerful smell, and not an agreeable one, to the 

 passers by. He put the mixture on a twenty-acre field of wheat, 

 and h3 said he was going to beat you." 



" Yes," said I, " so I understood but he did not do it. If he 

 ha 3 applied the lime and the manure separately, he would have 

 stood a better chance ; still, there are two sides to the question. 

 I should not think of mixing lime with good, rich farm-yard ma- 

 nure; but with long, coarse, strawy manure, there would be less 

 injury, and possibly some advantage." 



" The Squire," said the Deacon, " got one advantage. He had 

 not much trouble in drawing the manure about the land. There 

 was not much of it left." 



Lime does not always decompose organic matter. In certain 

 conditions, it will preserve vegetable substances. We do not want 

 to mix lime with manure in order to preserve it ; and if our object 

 is to increase fermentation, we must be careful to mix sufficient soil 

 with the manure to keep it moist enough to retain the liberated 

 ammonia. 



Many farmers who use lime for the first time on wheat, are apt 

 to feel a little discouraged in the spring. I have frequently seen 

 limed wheat in the spring look worse than where no lime was 

 used. But wait a little, and you will see a change for the better, 

 and at harvest, the lime will generally give a good account of itself. 



There is one thing about lime which, if generally true, is an im- 

 portant matter to our wheat-growers. Lime is believed to hasten 

 the maturity of the crop. " It is true of nearly all our cultivated 

 crops," says the late Professor Johnston, " but especially of those 

 of wheat, that their full growth is attained more speedily when 

 the land is limed, and that they are ready for the harvest from 

 ten to fourteen days earlier. This is the case even with buck- 



