AMERICAN INSTITUUE. 169 



tlie acre must vary according to the quality of the soil. The larger the 

 quantity of organic matter it contains, the more lime it will hear. It should 

 never be applied without proper consideration, and then not in such large 

 quantities as has been customary, as when land becomes lime sick, it will 

 not produce good crops for several years. It must be considered a stimu- 

 lant, and not a manure. Its effects are to give solidity to light soils, ena- 

 bling them to retain moisture, and prevent the sun's rays from penetrating 

 sufficiently far to dry up the roots. 



If laid on the surface of grass land, it ginks immediately into the soil, 

 until it reaches the subsoil, and there remains until recalled by the plough. 

 It may be applied when the land is in fallow, and advantageously, if mixed 

 with vegetable remains or salt. If mixed with dung it renders the extrac- 

 tive matter insoluble, and is therefore injurious. One hundred bushels to 

 the acre on heavy land, and eighty on sandy land, may be considered mode- 

 rate doses, though I have applied four hundred bushels ^n clay, and 200 

 on sand. Magnesian limes are sometimes injurious to land ; therefore, I 

 prefer the oyster shell, of which I have used several thousand bushels 

 during the past winter. Lime is indispensable to the fertility of the soil. 



Marl. — This substance presents various colors— yellow, white, blue, 

 grey, and numerous degrees of coherence — fine, sandy, loose, clayey, and 

 tenacious, according to the nature of the locality where it is found. The 

 characteristic property of all marls is the presence of carbonate of lime in 

 them. Its operation upon vegetation is like that of lime, but much slower 

 in its effects, and if placed upon the land immediately on being taken from 

 the pit, it is injurious in some cases, and not advantageous in anv. The 

 proper practice is to leave it in heaps for a year, and turn it several times. 

 It will, if used in large quantities, produce beneficial results, by improving 

 the texture of the soil mechanically. 



They differ in composition, and consequently in the effects which they 

 are capable of producing. The proportion of carbonate of lime is unlike 

 in all varieties ; phosphate of lime abounds in some, clay and sand in 

 others. 



Silicate of Lime. — This compound of lime occurs in nearly all soils in 

 small quantities, but has not been used to improve land, even where it 

 abounds. You will find a superior growth of vegetable productions in the 

 vicinity of trap rocks, by the degradation of which silicate of lime is im- 

 parted to the soil. This is a valuable hint to those having farms in dis- 

 tricts abounding with these rocks, or where iron smelting is carried on, as 

 the slag that is obtained from the furnace consists chiefly of this admirable 

 enricher, which, instead of being used for making highways durable, should 

 be placed upon the contiguous farms, in a disintegrated state, and to a cer- 

 tain extent will be as effectual as caustic lim3, besides imparting to the 

 soil firmness, solidity, silica, and lime. 



If I have consumed too much of your valuable time, please excuse me ; 

 but I could not say less about this most efficacious substance, lime, which, 

 in the hands of a skillful agriculturist, is better calculated to ameliorate 



