RIGHT USE OF LIME IN SOIL IMPROVEMENT 



quite surely the state of the soil by observ- 

 ance of the vegetation that roots in the sur- 

 face soil and the immediate subsoil. Sorrel 

 is a plant popularly associated with soil 

 acidity, but this is not through any dislike 

 for lime. It has been observed growing 

 in the edge of a heap. Its presence suggests 

 acidity because it can thrive in a sour soil 

 that will not produce plants of value which 

 on even terms could crowd the sorrel out. 

 There is constant competition among plants 

 for food and water and space, and some of 

 our worst weeds are not strong competitors 

 of clover and grass where soil conditions 

 are not unfavorable to the latter. 



Blue grass, the clovers and timothy give a 

 good account of themselves in a contest 

 with sorrel and plantain where lime is 

 abundant. This does not mean that the seeds 

 of these weeds may not be so numerous that 

 an application of lime cannot cause the 

 clover and grasses immediately to take the 

 ground to the exclusion of other plants, but 

 it is true that the crowding process will con- 

 tinue until the time comes in the crop rota- 

 tion that these weeds cease to be feared, and 

 clean sods can be made. It is the absence 

 of lime that permits such weeds to maintain 



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