MAXCRES 29 



well-known. The quantity that should he applied varies according 

 to the nature of the soil. In hot countries the soil requires less 

 lime than in cool or temperate regions, owing partly to the more 

 rapid rate of decomposition that naturally takes place in the former. 

 In Ceylon, an application of 2 to 3 c\vt. per acre is usually con- 

 sidered sufficient for Held crops, and this in the case of Tea is 

 generally applied with buried primings. For garden purposes 6 to 

 8 oz. per square yard is a safe dressing. Clay soils require more 

 lime than light loams or sands. In the case of land which contains 

 but little humus, lime should only be applied in very small quan- 

 tities, otherwise exhaustion of the soil will result. Ground that is 

 frequently manured, as an old vegetable garden, will be much 

 improved by small applications of lime, which act as a corrective 

 of inertness resulting from liberal manuring. Except for such 

 plants as Rhododendrons, for instance, to which it is really in- 

 jurious, the application of lime to rich garden soils should be 

 attended to every third year or so. It should be remembered 

 that lime will not supply the place of organic manure, that it merely 

 renders this available for the nourishment of plants, and that in 

 some cases its application to the soil may even be injurious. An 

 old maxim of farmers is that 



Lime and lime without manure, 

 Makes both farm and farmer poor. 



The exhaustive effect of continued liming of the soil, whilst 

 adding insufficient organic matter to the latter, is also aptly put in 

 the adage, " Lime pays the father, but ruins the son." 



Coral lime, which is almost a pure carbonate of lime, is what 

 is usually employed for manurial purposes in Ceylon. It is 

 imported from India and the Maldive Islands in hard lumps, and 

 is either ground to a fine state and sold as ground-coral, or burned 

 in kilns, when it is supplied as burnt or quick-lime. 



Chalk acts both mechanically and chemically when applied to 

 the soil. It renders soils which are light and incapable of holding 

 sufficient moisture more compact and retentive, a quality which pre- 

 vents the rain washing away the soluble substances necessary for 

 the support of plant life. Chalk is a variety of carbonate of lime 

 and, in addition to the latter, contains to a varying extent clay, sand, 

 potash, soda, oxide of iron, phosphoric and sulphuric acids. 



Gypsum, or Sulphate of lime, is a combination of lime, 

 sulphuric acid and water ; it belongs to the class of indirect 

 nitinurcs, and exists to a large extent in ordinary superphosphates.. 



