CARBONATE OF LIME. 123 
There are river soils that will not grow alfalfa, but 
they are soils made by the deposition of silt that 
came itself from land too poor in lime. Much of 
western Kentucky will not grow alfalfa without lim- 
ing, yet along the rivers, particularly along the Mis- 
sissippi River, alfalfa grows gloriously. The same 
is true of the land across the river in Missouri. 
Much Missouri land needs lime to promote alfalfa 
growth, but the alluvial soils near the Mississippi 
grow it beautifully, and alfalfa growing in southeast 
Missouri is assuming large proportions. 
In Kentucky the writer has observed certain steep, 
stony hillsides growing alfalfa luxuriantly, while 
many level and apparently much richer soils not far 
away would not grow it at all. The reason was 
plain; the small stones were fragments of limestone, 
and the soil, though apparently poor, was yet rich 
in carbonate of lime, fairly well stored with phos- 
phorus and potash, and the alfalfa, finding itself 
so healthy and vigorous, foraged for its own 
nitrogen. 
In Washington state alfalfa grows splendidly 
along the eastern side and in the irrigated valleys 
of the middle section, because the soils there are 
alkaline and not sour, with abundant lime, but on 
the western slope of the mountains and along Puget 
Sound it grows hardly at all, because lime is deficient 
in those soils. On an island in Puget Sound the 
writer found very luxuriant alfalfa growing near 
the shore, and upon investigation found great quan- 
tities of shells buried in the soil. The Indians had 
