LIME AS A MANURE. 223 



wheat, which becomes sooner ripe, though it yields no larger a 

 return when lirne is applied to the land on which it is grown." 



In districts where the midge affects the wheat, it is exceedingly 

 important to get a variety of wheat that ripens early; and if lime 

 will favor early maturity, without checking the growth, it will be 

 of great value. 



A correspondent in Delaware writes : " I have used lime as a 

 manure in various ways. For low land, the best way is, to sow it 

 broadcast while the vegetation is in a green state, at the rate of 40 

 or 50 bushels to the acre ; but if I can not use it before the frost 

 kills the vegetation, I wait until the land is plowed in the spring, 

 when I spread it on the plowed ground in about the same quantity 

 as before. Last year, I tried it both ways, and the result was, my 

 crop was increased at least fourfold in each instance, but that 

 used on the vegetation was best The soil is a low, black sand." 



A farmer writes from New Jersey, that he has used over 

 6,000 bushels of Jime on his farm, and also considerable guano and 

 phosphates, but considers that the lime has paid the best. His 

 farm has more than doubled in real value, and he attributes this 

 principally to the use of lime. 



" We lime," he says, " whenever it is convenient, but prefer to 

 put it on at least one year before plowing the land. We spread 

 from 25 to 40 bushels of lime on the sod in the fall ; plant with 

 corn the following summer; next spring, sow with oats and 

 clover; and the next summer, plow under the clover, and sow 

 with wheat and timothy. We have a variety of soils, from a 

 sandy loain to a stiff clay, and are certain that lime will pay on 

 all or any of them. Some of the best farmers in our County com- 

 menced liming when the lime cost 25 cts. a bushel, and their farms 

 are ahead yet, more in value, I judge, than the lime cost. The 

 man who first commences using lime, will get so far ahead, while 

 his neighbors are looking on, that they will never catch up." 



Another correspondent in Hunterdon Co., N. J., writes : " Ex- 

 perience has taught me that the best and most profitable mode of 

 applying lime is on grass land. If the grass seed is sown in the 

 fall with the wheat or rye, which is the common practice with us 

 in New Jersey, as soon as the harvest comes off the next year, we 

 apply the lime with the least delay, and while fresh slacked and in 

 a dry and mealy state. It can be spread more evenly on the 

 ground, and is in a state to be more readily taken up by the fine 

 roots of the plants, than if allowed to get wet and clammy. It is 

 found most beneficial to keep it as near the surface of the ground 



