54 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



to the limestone condition is brought about by union 

 with the carbonic acid gas coming from the atmo- 

 sphere or thrown off by the substances decaying in 

 the ground. Under this new form lime continues to 

 play a useful part by supplying the calcareous ingre- 

 dient to soil that lacked it, and also by preventing the 

 clay from becoming too cohesive, too impervious to 

 air and water. 



"The addition of lime to the soil should take place 

 at the end of summer, when the ground is dry. Lit- 

 tle heaps of quicklime, each containing about twenty 

 kilograms, are placed at intervals of five meters and 

 covered with a few spadefuls of earth. In a short 

 time the moisture in the atmosphere reduces the lime 

 to a fine powder, which is then spread evenly with a 

 shovel and covered with earth — an operation involv- 

 ing no severe labor. 



"Lime should never be applied with seed. Mere 

 contact with it would burn the young shoots. 

 Neither should it be mixed with manure before it is 

 used, since the immediate result would be a total loss 

 of great quantities of ammonia, thrown off in gas- 

 eous form ; and ammonia, as I have explained, is one 

 of the richest of fertilizers. Lime and manure, 

 therefore, should be used separately. 



' ' Soils rich in turf, clay, or granite are the ones on 

 which lime acts most beneficially. Because of the 

 important results attained by the use of lime, its 

 manufacture for purely agricultural purposes by cer- 

 tain expeditious and effective methods is customary 

 in many places. Thus in Mayenne, where this ap- 



