ix.] LIME 267 



in which case the lime slakes gradually to a fine powder 

 that can be spread before the plough. It is not wise to 

 spread the quicklime over the land, as much of it, 

 after slaking and becoming carbonated, remains in 

 lumps which cannot be reduced to a powder. 



The expense of liming in this fashion is consider- 

 able, and as the action is not immediate, owing to the 

 difficulty of getting the material mixed with the soil, 

 it is desirable to replace it, if possible, by a cheaper 

 process. This has been attained by the use of ground 

 lime, which is at the present time prepared by most 

 lime works for the use of builders ; 5 cwt. of ground 

 lime per acre, distributed by a manure barrow or by 

 one of the artificial manure distributors now manu- 

 factured, will be found more effective for one or two 

 seasons than ten or twelve times as much applied in 

 the old-fashioned method. Of course such a small 

 dressing of ground lime requires renewing more fre- 

 quently; but, as the expense is comparatively trifling, 

 both for labour and material, as compared with the 

 older process, it may be hoped that on many soils this 

 all-important operation will assume its old prominence 

 in the routine of farming. 



Considerable differences are to be seen in the 

 character of lime made from the various calcium car- 

 bonate rocks burnt for lime in the British Islands; in 

 the main a distinction may be drawn between the white 

 11 fat " limes made from the White Chalk, the Mountain 

 Limestone and other comparatively pure deposits of 

 calcium carbonate, and the " thin " grey or stone limes 

 made from less pure and more argillaceous limestones. 

 The " fat " limes are the purer, slake readily and swell 

 considerably in the act, forming afterwards a bulky 

 white powder ; the " poor " or " thin " limes slake with 

 comparative difficulty and do not increase much in 



