CHAPTER XI 

 BURNING LIME 



Methods of Burning. Limestone con- 

 tains the calcium and magnesium that must 

 be the chief source of supply of American 

 soils, though marls, ashes, etc., have their 

 place. The burning of the stone has been 

 the leading means of bringing it to a condi- 

 tion of availability to the soil, excepting, of 

 course, the vast work of disintegration car- 

 ried on through all the ages by nature. 

 Pulverization of the rock by machinery for 

 use on land is recent. 



The devices for burning are various, a 

 modern lime plant containing immense 

 kilns, cylindrical in form, the stone being 

 fed into them at the top continuously, and 

 the lime removed at the bottom. A large 

 part of the lime that is sold for use on land 

 is made in plants of his kind. Some is 

 burned in kilns of cheap construction, but a 

 traveler through a limestone country finds 

 few such kilns now in use. 



The Farm Lime Heap. A common 

 method of producing lime for farm use has 



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