540 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



common borax: it , water, a definite 



5!S« %&m&™* c^^e^lrcnPn"nIt^acM hydrate of lime, is the result 

 i t dissolves slowly, without effervescence. ** a 



Some varieties are 



combination, known to chemists as 



Lime is always used 

 state : but it was 



f^a^SS^MinB^l phosphate of lime was £*ed Apf* 



W bj Werner, from a Greek word signifying •'depepto^in 

 allusion to the mistakes made by the older mmeraogists 

 -with regard to the nature of its many varieties, It 1* aiso 

 known by the terms, spargelstein, asparagus-stone phos- 

 phorite, moroxite, chr/solite, eupyrchroite, augus te aad 

 p.eu4o.apatite. The variety known as talc-apattt^ from 

 chlorite slato in Schischi 

 contains in 100 parts 



acid 39.02, Sulphuric _ -. sv«».w»f> i* 



Iron 1.C0, insoluble matter and loss 11.73. F™™ ™™ 

 an apatite from near Tavistock, in Devonshire. It occurs 

 in small masses of irregular aggregated crystals, having a 

 Bomewhat mammilated surface. According to the ana- 

 . lysis of T. II. Henry, 100 parts are composed of- Lime 

 53.38, Iron and >fanganese 2.96, Phosphoric acid 41.34, 

 Fluorine and loss 2.32. 



Professor Jameson gives in the article * Mineralogy, 

 in "Brewster's Encyclopedia" (pages 488 to 495), an 

 interesting statement of the varieties of apatite, and of 

 their localities of occurrence, and respective chemical 

 composition. We have only space on this occasion to 

 glance at a few points selected from that article. 



1. Foliated Apatite (common variety} occurs in tin-stone 

 veins, and also embedded in talc. It is found in Europe in 

 yellow foliated talc, and along with fluor-spar, in the mine 

 called Stena-Gwyn, in St. Stephen's, in Cornwall; and at 

 S\ Michael's Mount, Goaolphia-bal, in Breage, in the same 

 county; also in various districts on the Continent. In 

 America it occurs in grains or hexahedral prisms in granite, 

 near Baltimore, in Maryland ; in granite and gneiss, along 

 with beryl, garnet, and schorl, at Germantown, in Penn- 

 sylvania ; in iron pyrites at St. Anthony's Nose, in the 

 Hudson, in New York ; in granite at Milford Mills, near 

 Newhaven, in Connecticut ; and at Topsham, in Maine, in 

 granite. Klaproth found it to consist of-— lime 55, and 

 phosphoric acid 45, with a trace of manganese. 



2. Conchoidal apatite (asparagus variety), occurs imbedded 

 in gneiss, near Kincardine, in Ross-shire ; also in beds of 

 magnetic ironstone, along with sphen^ calcacerous spar, 

 hornblende, quartz, and angite, at Arendal, in Norway. 

 In America it is found imbedded in granite at Baltimore ; 

 in gneiss at Germantown, and in mica-slate in West 

 Greenland. Klaproth ascertained the composition of two 

 specimens of tbfs variety : one from Zillerthal being almost 

 pure phosphate of lime ; while another, from Uto, contained 

 only 92 per cent, of that substance, with 6 per cent, of chalk, 

 1 of silica, and a trace of manganese. 



3. Common Phosphorite.— Occurs in crusts, and crystallised, 

 along with apatite and quartz, at Schlackenwald, in Bohe- 

 mia ; but most abundantly near Leigrosan, in the proy nee 

 of E8tremadura. in Spain, where it is sometimes associated 

 with apatite, and forms whole beds, that alternate with 

 limestone and quartz. — Pelletier found 100 parts to coneist 

 of Lime 59.0, Pbosphoric Acid 34:0, Silica. 2.0, Fluoric 

 Acid 2.5, Muriatic Acid 0.5, Carbonic Acid 1.0, Oxide of 



Iron 1.0. 



4, Earthy Phosphorite. — Occurs in a vein, in the district of 

 Marmarosch, in Hungary. Klaproth gives its composition 

 as— Lime 47,00, Phosphoric Acid 32.25, Fluoric Acii 2.50. 

 Silica 0.50, Oxide of Iron 0.75, Water 1.00, Quartz and 

 Loam 11.50. 



The Council expressed their best thanks to those 



gentlemen who had favoured them with the letters then 



laid before them at that meeting, in reply to the inquiries 



the Council had directed to be made on this important 



subject. 



LECTURE ON LIME. 



A Weekly Council was held at the Society's house in 



Hanover-square, on Wednesday, the 9th of July, Col. 



Challoner, Trustee, in the chair; when Professor Way, 



the consulting-chemist to the Society, favoured the 



members with a lecture on the agricultural employment 

 of lime. 



practically in agriculture in this 



common to cart it from the kiln into the field and leave it 



in heaps to become gradually converted into hydrate ; 



moniacal 



tra^n^ 



rt. i- tt 



that wfaiie 



fact mentioned by Mr. Lawes. 



bushels of Wheat were crown „-r 1 



bushels were raised by the aid J \I 0ttt <l I I 

 remedy to m akegoodV£t^^1t* , 



H a €k rmacM 1 urifh ±1.-. TT _ -» » 







would, in the course of time,>lso take up carbonic acid 

 from the' atmosphere. It was therefore, he thought, 

 not desirable, when the use of quicklime was the object, 

 to let the heaps lie too long before turning into the 

 soil ; else, why burn the lime I It took, however, a 

 Ions time for the carbonic acid to penetrate into the 

 interior. He referred to examinations of old walls, 

 built centuries ago, the mortar of which contained lime 

 still in its caustic state. To the practical farmer, the 

 qauntity to be applied, the proper time of application, 

 the nature of the soils, and the method of action, were 

 all important topics for their consideration, in reference 

 to this powerful mineral manure. He thought that the 

 action of lime must be regarded as a strictly chemical 

 one when it was considered how small a per-centage 

 of increase of lime would be made in the soil by even 

 large and constant dressings ; in fact, that to impregnate 

 a s°oil to the depth of 10 inches with one per cent, 

 only of lime, 300 bushels per acre would have to be 

 applied. He considered air-slaking to be more con- 

 sonant with common sense as well as with theoretical 

 views than water-slaking, as the lime would become more 

 evenly affected by the atmosphere, and in a better state 

 for distribution. He then referred to the relation of 

 lime to animal and vegetable manures. He thought it 

 prejudicial with farm-yard manure, unless immediately 

 mixed with the soil ; that liming, in fact, ought to answer 

 when taking place either immediately before or after 

 manure ; the ammonia contained in it, set free by the 

 decomposing agency of the lime, and taken up by the 

 absorptive power of the soil, being at once at liberty for 

 the supply of food to plants. He recommended small 

 quantities of lime to be mixed with manure in the soil ; 

 but not with manure in the yard. There was no better 

 way of destroying or dissolving animal and vegetable 

 matter than by mixing lime with the soil. With regard 



of lime, we should never let them iSS? *B 

 other manures. In conclusion he rf^** 1 ** 

 small doses of quicklime we AS??>J 

 ready means of making animal and v£.u ** * 

 more available, and also of effectbtth^T*^^ 

 of the silicates which carbonate of lin7 ***^ 

 Mr. Hamond observed that tCmZ?***^ 

 was in>ils, the more marl they ttqpkSS? ** 



secure it : according to their 

 marl."- 



Professor Way remarked thai *K** 

 stimulant in small doses increased the (rrn^7 l, 

 it did so tea time, if the plant was£?^ 

 but that if lime was added in such anamoi 7? 

 tree at once all the ammonia in a soil ^ T 

 alkali would be floating about too long'and * 

 lost to all but the first crop.— Mr. SlanevSlp^ 

 of ProfessorJWay how much lime he would ***** 



** 



on an average soil— 30 or 300 bushels Y7n &2 

 they were accustomed to lime very heavilv l?i! 



cart loads, or 400 bushels per acre.- 

 thought 400 bushels of lime out of 



Prof* 



to the time of application, lime, if used m small quan- 

 tities, might be put on immediately before or after the 

 manure, as he had already stated. In South Wales liming 

 took place every season, and is so essential a part of their 

 manuring, that comparatively little care is taken of ordi- 

 nary animal or vegetable refuse. To such an extent is the 

 conveyance of the lime carried that the Rebecca riots 

 in that part of the United Kingdom had their origin in 

 disputes connected with the tolls levied on lime-carts. 

 It is a question what the peculiar success of the Welsh 

 system of liming arises from. Local customs,heremarked, 

 were generally correct, more or less. Asa constant appli- 

 cation, lime was no doubt the most powerful agent we 

 could introduce into the land. No substance, he thought, 

 was ever taken up properly, as food, by plants until 

 combined with the soil. The aluminous silicates gene- 

 rally had a great influence in this respect. Boussin- 

 gault had shown that plants died if placed in solutions 

 of the fixed salts of ammonia, as sulphate or muriate, but 

 lived in vigour when placed in a solution of the volatile 

 carbonate of that alkali. Prof. Way's experiments all 

 tended to show that ammonia unites in a definite form 

 with the soil, such ammonia being either derived at once 

 from the carbonate or from the fixed salts when the 





alkali is replaced in them by lime ; the sulphate and 



Prof. Way commenced his lecture by remarking, Lime 

 was an abundant substance in nature, not, however, as 

 lime, chemically considered, and in its pure or caustic 

 state, but in combination with acids, forming chalk, 



gypsum, bone-earth, and other well-known substances. I muriate of ammonia, for instance, being converted into 

 Caustic or quick-lime for agricultural and building pur- the sulphate and muriate of lime, and coming away, 

 poses, was generally obtained from the carbonate of 

 lime, either in its purer forms of chalk or marble, or as 

 existing in mixture with other mineral substances in the 

 varieties of limestone. This carbonate of lime contained 

 by weight about 43^ per cent, of carbonic acid or fixed 

 air, which was evolved from the lime in a state of effer- 

 vescence, by the superior action of other acids, or driven 

 off from it by the application of a red heat. In the 



with the 



all reian-i 



or 40 would be abundant, in a chemical rrUtl 

 Colonel Challoner, the Chairman, remarked fetjv 

 Way merely gave his results as a chemist ;forpnS 

 details Mr. Slaney had better court the expend 

 those of their members present who were bo* « 

 versant with that particular branch of mineral 

 — Mr. Thompson stated, that it was the Scotch _ 

 employ large dressings of lime at the beginim* } \ 

 lease, for instance, to 200 to 300 bushels to the it 

 the effect of these was not found to be exhauaWbfc 

 termination of the lease. Could Prof. Way reconckfc 

 practice with theory ? by one year, or for 1 m 

 number of years? — Sir Robert Price referred t» * 

 old agricultural adage, " lime light/' &c. — Prof, ft 

 thought the result would be in a rapidly 

 ratio ; the first crop would benefit largely, but t*a 

 the end the land would be worse than when fat aa 

 in hand. The plants would get a greater iMi 

 food at the beginning than afterwards. Ink* 

 referred to, there was more than we could see ; Ai 

 local circumstances might perhaps constitutt :; 1 

 exception. — Sir John Johnstone considered! 

 was from practice that we were to glen* 

 which to frame principles for our god* 

 this complicated question. It would be 4 

 worth inquirv, whether the rocks of South Wales wh 

 such anatureasto reuderlittle animal or vegetable!* 

 requisite in the soils which cover them; and aM* 

 in the Welsh course of cropping, any detenonM* 

 found to take place. The lime probably set fiwp* 

 or some other substance, which proved .of 1*1 

 nutriment to plants. If we knew the pec^*" 

 of this case, we should ourselves know what *M 

 similar "circumstances.— Sir Robert Price urn 

 Professor Way had shown them the ftajgj 

 recommendation founded upon it to try sin 1 ^ 

 lime immediately before and after m 

 their own business as practical ftnf 8 *H 



and recommendation to the w 

 Mr. Thompson referred to 



on 

 in 



I 



theory 



Science of "the "importance of lime *m 



HI 





latter case, the limestone was placed along 

 requisite quantity of fuel in a suitable kiln, and burnt 

 for a proper time, when the gas escaped into the atmo- 

 sphere, and the quicklime was left behind in the kiln. 

 He remarked, however, that when chalk was heated in 

 a crucible covered with a lid, it became fused, without 

 parting with its carbonic acid ; in fact, that the mecha- 

 nical action of the atmosphere was required to carry off 

 the gas from the chalk as it became gradually released 

 from its chemical union with the lime ; for chalk, as 

 long as surrounded by carbonic acid, would be protected 

 from further decomposition, and remain carbonate of 

 lime. On this principle it was that a current of watery 

 vapour was so useful in the lime-kiln in effecting a circu- 

 lation of air through it, and thus removing the gas ; and 

 this was occasioned by using fuel yielding much steam, 

 such as twigs, &c. It was also a common practice to. 

 throw water into the ash-pit, with the view of attaining 

 the same object. He himself thought that a jet of 

 steam might with advantage be introduced into the 

 kiln. The lime when taken from the kiln was 

 simply that earth, uncombined with carbonic acid, 

 and freed from moisture ; but on exposure to the 

 atmosphere it slowly attracted both water and carbonic 

 acid gas, and assumed its original composition, though 

 not its mechanical form, being reduced to an impal- 

 pable white powder. Water being poured over the 

 calcined lumps from the kiln, it is rapidly absorbed, and its 

 latent heat being given out, the lumps crack, become very 

 hot, and steam rises ; and the lime having become thus 

 riaked fay the absorption of about one-third its weight of 



while the ammonia remains in the soil. He then 

 ventured to put before the meeting a hypothetical 

 statement of his views on the machinery of this action. 

 He believed that a double silicate of alumina and lime, 

 or something of that kind, existed in the soil. When 

 sulphate of ammonia is applied, its ammonia goes into 

 the double silicate, and lime comes out to form sulphate 

 of lime. When the ammonia is required by the plant, 

 it leaves the alumina and silica, which then require 

 lime, in order that it may be restored to action, and 

 prepared again to exchange that earth for ammonia, 

 which in its turn is given up to the plant, and so on, as 

 long as lime is present on the one hand, and ammonia 

 furnished in some shape or the other. When 

 farmers add lime to their land, they form these double 

 silicates, and, therefore, it appeared to him more 

 rational that they should, with this view, add only 

 small quantities of lime frequently, instead of large 

 doses at once. Perhaps slaked lime with ashes, or 

 lime alone, might be used iu the first instance. Lime 

 decomposed animal and vegetable matter, and thus 

 furnished food for plants. It had also been supposed to 

 act on the potash of granitic rocks. Liebig had made 

 much of this setting-free of potash in the soil. Alumi- 

 nous silicates take up potash, which replaced the lime in 

 them, in the same manner as ammonia had been de- 

 scribed as doing. The salts of potash were retained by 

 soils even after having been heavily limed; and he there- 

 fore considered that the theory which supposed the lime 

 to act by setting potash free was not well founded. If 

 land was overtimed, ammonia would not be absorbed, but 

 would all be set free. Attention should be paid to 

 liming the land, as well as to arranging, for the absorp- 

 tion of ammonia. One of the most important conse- 

 quences of overtiming is, that the soil is exhausted by 

 setting free and getting rid of that which constitutes 

 its capital, namely, its ammonia ; an evil of which 

 the magnitude may be estimated by the J means re- 

 [ quired to repair the loss, namely, the supply of am- 



with manure, 

 from its application 



order to derive 



One of his farms harj J 



over-limed many years ago, had W**£ % i 

 ti aed in an opposite extreme ^^ 

 When he took it in hand himself, there ^^ 

 on it that would grow a crop of whiteTjg I 



yield any thing else. ^J^^I 

 means of restoration.^ The togew^^j^j- 



come on 



after the second hoeing : in uw ,u» * ( 

 of the lime did not show them^ ^ 



the Turnips after the lime hac I bj-J-J 



-en. &* 



they were as satisfactory as could be waj^ 

 wherever a fence bad been take* »P, # 

 the lime had been omitted ^J^^tQ 



purposely left, on which no . wd 



which was P in other respects ^g^ 

 was a crop of only two tons, tops ano^ ^J 



acre was 



white Turnips ; while the rest rf * ^ 



•ceived the application o Mj» ^ | ^ W 



He had these Turnips analysed cios^^, 



t, ir chemical constitution *- >»££ - u g 



ime , except that nitrogen w» &**> 



■ om the unlimed square acre himtol9 « : 



at. Lime, indeed, had »P&& the p**jji 

 .„*^;„i „ff«.i in riving to light so» ^ i*» 



out 



material effect in giving 

 ing ammonia 



although nothing dew w ^ j 

 Code in which it enable f 



t„ the exact mode m which it 

 farm to which he had ^<le a ^ 



soil on the new red f " d *f °* plie d to*^ 

 refers to this value of l^^jL (3o^ \ 

 formation, in the following !«*»«» V_ ^£5 



» The farmers of Seotla^bia* J^S^g} 

 crops of (rrain without lime, a. d ^.to ^ #f 



of 8.ot.a\d 1. ■ ««»£•*£ ^"£5*S& 

 and granite, aud 'nereiu fert ,ie p «g 



rery coo.iderabie R^Kfrie.ib^Jll-ig? 

 f.nndthat the 901 ' ° Kmers fffl« ^V 

 filled Barley cr ps^ to U the f* fi0(J „ : e£$>*£i 



now do to a great""^ u •mj^g"^ 



tow and Turnip crops, "» c 01I t of 8»°«- 

 , urcba^ing lime to the. auioo 



