Proceedings of the Farmers^ Club. 373 



from it, and the dressing need not be so large as when given pre- 

 viously. Some judgment must, however, be exercised when laying 

 on caustic lime at such an advanced period of the spring, as, if not 

 well mixed, a considerable portion of the seed may get scorched, 

 and the braird will be consequently patchy and unequal. On very 

 thin soils, such a contingency is almost unavoidable, and it is better 

 to lay on the lime sufficiently early so as to obviate all danger from 

 its causticity. 



Of late years, the potato disease has been very erratic, entire 

 districts having been passed over without much injuiy, while others, 

 with as much apparent reason for exemption, have suffered so much • 

 as scarcel}'' to be worth the trouble of digging. This we attribute 

 more to atmospheric causes than to anything connected with the 

 treatment or culture of the land. Every cultivator must, there- 

 fore, take chance for the results, it being scarcely possible for any 

 one to ward off disease; and we, therefore, look upon lime or lime 

 composts as being a good thing to use in preparation for potatoes, 

 without attributing to them any curative or preventive property 

 whatsoever. 



As an inexpensive, and at the same time telling improvement on 

 grass lands, composts of lime and earth stand conspicuous; and the 

 good effect of their application is readily recognized, being both 

 immediate and permanent. As an easier mode of applying lime, 

 many farmers lay out the shells in small heaps on the grass, just as 

 they come from the kiln, spreading evenly over the surface when 

 dissolved by the action of the weather. Lime thus placed upon 

 pastures certainly has a revivifying effect upon the grasses of which 

 they are composed, killing moss and other useless plants which fre- 

 quently threaten to take possession of the land to the exclusion of 

 the more valuable herbage, and the application has the merit of 

 being a cheap one. The effect of this dressing, however, is not 

 nearly so lasting as when the same amount of lime is applied in 

 compost; nor is the improvement so apparent. During the past 

 season, we have seen hay to the weight of at least two tons per 

 acre cut from a field which we never before saw meadowed, for the 

 simple reason that it would not have paid for the trouble had hay 

 been attempted to be taken off it; and the after-grass came thick, 

 strong, and jis green as a leak, immediately on the hay being 

 cleared off. This improvement was effected solely through the 

 agency of a liberal dressing of lime compost, which was laid on 

 during the spring, just previous to the commencement of the grow- 



