THE CUBA REVIEW. 



27 



parts of burned lime or 74 parts of air- 

 slacked lime. These proportions are 

 based upon chemically pure materials and 

 by using raw materials slight c'langes in 

 the proportion are due to impurities, as 

 sand, etc. The corals in Cuba are usual- 

 ly soft enough to be crushed easily by 

 a simple stone crusher with attached sift- 

 er; a boll-mill will work economically. 

 But to appl}^ the coral in any oiher form 

 than as a fine powder is wasting money. 

 If it is difficult to apply the powder, then 

 mix with dirt and it will work all right 

 in any drilling or spreading machine. 



About the amount of lime applied per 

 acre, no final advice can be given without 

 considering the conditions. Some ex- 

 periments on small plots will give the 

 wanted information quickly. 



In citrus fruit groves I would apply 

 half a ton per acre broadcast, or 5 lbs. 

 around each tree, covering a circle 

 five feet wide, commencing nbout two 

 feet from the trunk. To mix the lime 

 with the dirt by hoeing is advisable. Bj- 

 applying a cover-crop of cowpeas the 

 lime should be applied after the crop 

 has been turned under. Turtied under 

 cover-crops are alwaj's liable to sour the 

 soil, therefore the application later on. 



Sugar cane fields will be benefited im- 

 mediately by applying per acre at least 

 one ton of lime. Here I would like to 

 add that it will pay to conduct sys- 

 tematical experiments on dififerent soils 

 in different sections of Cuba with differ- 

 ent lime preparations. I believe- that we 

 all still have very much to learn about 

 increasing the yield of sugar cane, and 

 the sooner we start the better. 



With heavy liming, say two tons of 

 powdered coral, alfalfa will do well in 

 Cuba, and he who will prepare his soil 

 properh' bj^ deep plowing, repeated har- 



rowing and liming will have success with 

 hay and hogs. Alfalfa and plenty of 

 good water produce the best of pork. I 

 have raised alfalfa this season, and in 

 eight weeks the weed was more than two 

 feet high and the taproot measured eight 

 inches. The blossoms appeared after 

 eight weeks, so the first cutting could be 

 done before that time. The success was 

 due to lime. 



Corn did not respond to lime at all, 

 but stable manure was more active when 

 mixed with powdered limestone before 

 applied to the soil for raising corn. To 

 have near the stables a supply of pow- 

 dered coral and to sprinkle the powder 

 daily over the fresh manure is highly ad- 

 visable. It prevents the ammonia from 

 escaping and keeps the flies away. Ap- 

 plying burned or air-slacked lime to the 

 manure would reverse the results and it 

 would lend to release the ammonia. 



The free use of lime on farms, and in 

 households should not be neglected. 

 Lime is an insectide, a germicide, a deo- 

 doriser. Where lime is used there is 

 cleanliness, and it makes no cHfference 

 whether this applies to houses, chicken 

 stables or barns. Whitewash poured in- 

 to the nests of anthills will convince 

 the most skeptical man, that lime is one 

 of the most reliable friends a farmer and 

 fruit grower can think of. 



Summary. The use of lime is neces- 

 sary in the average soil of Cuba. The 

 supply of coral is so plentiful, that it 

 would pay to open quarries in many 

 places along the railroads for supplying 

 farmers and fruit growers. 



The general use of lime will result in 

 higher yields, a more economical use of 

 manure and a bettering of sanitary con- 

 ditions. 



Hillside Limestone Quarry, Bejucal, Havana Province. 



