RIGHT USE OF LIME IN SOIL IMPROVEMENT 



temper that opinion has swung violently 

 from favor to disfavor. As most soils need 

 organic matter, we seize upon the thought 

 that anything evidently inclined to use it up 

 is an evil. The purpose of tillage is in no 

 small degree to bring about disintegration 

 and resulting exhaustion of vegetable mat- 

 ter. The latter is a storehouse of plant 

 food, and some of it is needed to feed the 

 crop desired. Tillage is no more to be com- 

 mended for this purpose than a quantity of 

 lime equivalent in power to do the needed 

 work. Excepting the case of raw soils rich 

 in the remains of plants, most land hardly 

 needs lime for this purpose, it may be, the 

 tillage required for making a seed bed re- 

 tentive of moisture and for control of weeds 

 being effective, but the point is emphasized 

 that the disintegration of organic matter 

 into available plant food is one of the chief 

 aims of a good farmer. It is only the ex- 

 cessive use of caustic lime that causes loss. 



The use of caustic lime in sufficient 

 amount to correct all acidity, and the use of 

 such material to free plant food in humus 

 sufficiently to produce heavy sods, are just 

 as good farm practices as drainage and 

 the application of manure. 



