SOURCES OF LIME 



specting the sources and forms of lime most 

 to be desired. Wood ashes appealed to 

 people, especially in an early day in our 

 agriculture, partly because the ashes were 

 so universally present that tests had been 

 made voluntarily and otherwise in millions 

 of instances. The value of such tests had 

 been obscured by the fact that the ashes con- 

 tained potash, and much of the credit of 

 any good effect was attributed to that fact. 

 It has been generally known, however, that 

 lime in peculiarly effective form is in wood 

 ashes, and the favor in which ashes have 

 been held rested not a little upon the curi- 

 ous preference for an organic source of all 

 soil amendments. This is seen in the case 

 of direct fertilizers. 



Dealers' Interests. The doubts regard- 

 ing the wisdom of selecting any one form of 

 lime for the betterment of soil conditions 

 have been promoted very naturally by the 

 conflicting interests of men who would fur- 

 nish the supply. Some dealers in fresh 

 burned lime have asserted that it was folly 

 to expect any appreciable result from the 

 use of unburned limestone. The manufac- 

 turer of ground limestone has pointed out 

 the possibility of injuring a soil by the use 



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