SOUR SOILS 



Prevalence of Acidity. The results of 

 experiment station and farm tests are con- 

 clusive that the soils of the greater part of 

 all the humid region of the United States 

 show lime deficiency. Formerly, acidity 

 was associated in our minds with wet, low- 

 lying land, but within the last twenty years 

 we have learned that it prevails in light 

 seashore sands along the Atlantic shore, in 

 clays, loams and shales stretching to the 

 Appalachian system of mountains, on top of 

 mountain ranges and across foothills to our 

 central states, and through them in stretches 

 to the semi-arid lands of the west. While 

 not all this land has fallen into the lime- 

 deficient class, and the great part of some 

 states remains alkaline, the tendency 

 toward acidity is continuous. 



Crop production in great portions of the 

 Mississippi valley is restricted by lack of 

 lime in the soil, and some states to the east- 

 ward have one-half to nine-tenths of their 

 acreage too low in lime for the best results. 

 Calcareous soils have been losing their 

 distinctive feature, and the immense areas 

 of land naturally low in lime have remained 

 hampered in ability to make full returns 

 for labor, fertilizer and seed. It is this 



II 



