448 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



he dug it np for use, it was again thoroughly beaten. In the 

 same way the glazier will take old and apparently dry putty, and 

 work it until it becomes perfectly miscible, and glaze a frame 

 with it, and it will become much harder than putty freshly made. 



Mr. Upjohn stated that in building Trinity Church the mortar 

 was thrown through a pair of rollers several times before it was 

 carried up to be used ; and when applied the weight of the stone 

 would squeeze it out so that the mason could take the excess 

 away, leaving an exceedingly narrow seam which became very 

 hard. The process is that a silicate of lime is formed, and being 

 received upon the surface of moistened stone or brick, enters 

 into every little capillary pore, and there dries, forming millions 

 of dovetails, which prevent the material from readily coming 

 apart. 



We all know that the presence of lime in the soil creates such 

 chemical changes as will induce the formation of nitre. During 

 the wars of France, Napoleon had the mortar dug out from 

 between the stones in the cellars of Paris, and replaced it with 

 new mortar, using the old for leaching out the nitre for the manu- 

 facture of gunpowder. The presence of nitric acid in water 

 increases the solvent power of the water. Some soils become 

 charged with acetic acid, which causes an undue rapidity of de- 

 composition of organic matter, but this can be corrected by 

 minute doses of lime ; the quantity required for the purpose 

 never amounts to even five bushels to the acre. 



The effect of lime upon boggy or peaty land we all know. 

 One of its effects is to neutralize that minute quantity of tannic 

 acid which always exists in boggy land. Our Newark meadows 

 are a deposit from the delta-like action of the rivers, to which 

 are added the washings from the high lands, bringing down 

 decomposed leaves, etc.; and there is tannic acid enough to pre- 

 vent the growth of almost everything but strawberries and 

 asparagus and potatoes. Lime will remove this acid, and it is 

 otherwise a good soil. 



Dr. Trimble. — How much lime would you apply to the soil, 

 and how often ? 



Prof. Mapes. — It will depend upon the soil, and upon the crops 

 raised. I should think five bushels every three years to be suffi- 

 cient. I am convinced that farmers use too large quantities. 

 Put on thirty bushels to the acre, and in ten years a large pro- 

 portion of it will be lying upon the surface of the subsoil. 



