Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 3Y5 



top of the heaps, sufficient to cover the lime, and no more. To 

 insure immediate slacking, care must be taken, not only to cover, 

 but mix the lime with the earth ; otherwise about a week will 

 elapse before anythinor can be done in the way of spreading. 

 When well mixed, in an hour, or even less if the soil is very damp, 

 a strong heat will be evolved, and every heap will commence 

 steaming like miniature kilns. In a few hours the steam ceases, 

 and on inspection the shells will be found to have burst, and in a 

 great measure crumbled down into fine powder. The heaps, 

 which will by this time be three times their original size, may now 

 be stirred up with the shovel, the covering of earth and the lime 

 being well mixed together, so as to completely dissolve the pieces 

 which had not previously been thoroughly reduced. In four or 

 five hours the lime will be fit to spread, and thus it can with all 

 ease be slacked, spread, and worked in within twenty-four hours 

 of its being drawn from the kiln. By attending to it, with suffi- 

 cient hands to do it thus quickly, the lime is not permitted to lie 

 long enough to burn the soil; there is almost no danger from injury 

 by the weather, as there is only one day's drawing ahead of the 

 plow or grubber which is working in it, and the soil gets the full 

 advantage of a dressing of lime in a really caustic state — a difficult 

 matter to be obtained and exceedingly problematical under any 

 other mode of management. Considering the value of lime when 

 applied to land freshly broken up, or in good manurial condition, 

 it is by no means expensive, unless the district is very inconveni- 

 ently situated for carriage by water or rail, or even by the ordi- 

 nary cart. Taking the average price of a ton of lime and cost of 

 carriage to be ten shillings, a dressing of five tons to the statute 

 acre can be given for about three pounds, leaving an ample margin 

 for mixing and spreading. If applied so frequently as every six 

 years, four tons would be quite enough on light land, while heavy 

 clay soils would take six, and suffer no injury; but, on the contrary, 

 be very much benefited by the application. He who does his 

 utmost to treat his land well, by cleaning properly, manuring 

 liberally, and liming judiciously, not only deserves success, but 

 mostly attains to it, good treatment of the land being the sm*est 

 road to material prosperity. Adjourned. 



