LIME. 



is often alked, How long the efTcdls of lime maybe per- 

 ceived on the foil ? And, if by this qucllion it be meant to 

 afcertain the length of time that the effefts of lime will be 

 perceptible in promoting the luxuriance of the crop after 

 one manuring, it is no wonder that very different anfwers 

 ihould be given, as the effefts mud vary with the quantity 

 or quality of the lime employed, tlie nature of the crops 

 that follow, and many other circumllanccs, which it would 

 be impoffible to enumerate. But if it he viewed in another 

 light ; if lime be fuppofod to alter the foil, fo as to ren 



ground, which has been once impregnated with calcareou* 

 matter, acquires qualities from that moment which it did not 

 poffets before, whicli it ever afrerwards retains, and never 

 returns cxaclly to its former (late. In addition to this it i» 

 obfervid, that although lime has fuch powerful cffefls on 

 the foil, it does not fecmever to incorporate witli tlie mould, 

 fo as to form one homogeneous mafs ; but the lime remain* 

 always in detached particles, which are larger or fnaller in 

 proportion as it has been more or lefs pcrfcflly divided when 

 it was fpread, or broken down by the fubfcquent meclianital 



der it fufceptible of being affefted by other manures in a operations the foil may have been made to undergo. Hence 



more feniiblc degree, fo as to make it capable of pro- 

 ducing crops that no art could otiiervvi'o have effected, 

 and to admit of being improved by mod<.s of culture that 

 would not otherwife have produced any fenlible benefit, the 

 anfwer to the queftion would be more cafy, as in this 

 light, it is pretty plain that its effects will be felt, pcrhap?, 

 as long as the foil exills. It is believed farmers are lel- 

 dom accuilomed to confider lime, or other ca'ca^eous ma- 

 nures, in this point of view ; although, when i comes to 

 be inquired into, it is not doubted but thi-- will lie found 

 to be by far the moft valuable effeft of ilicfe meafures. A 

 few fafts will bell illullAte the meaning In D-.rby(hire 

 the farmers have found, that by fprt adinL' 1 me in confider- 

 able quantities upon the furface of their hea'hy moo s, afier 

 a few years the heath difappcars, and the whole furface 

 becomes covered with a fine pde ot grafs, coiifiding cf 

 white clover, and the o.her valuable forii of pallurc graffes. 



it happens, that in ploughing, if there chance to be any 

 lumps of calcareous matter in a dry Hate upon the furface, 

 they naturally tumble into the bottom of the open furrow ar 

 foon as the earth is edged up upon the mould-board, fo as 

 to fall into the lowed place tiiat has been made by the plough 

 before the furrow-flice is fairly turned over. In conlequence 

 of this circumdance, it muft often happen that, in the 

 courfe of many repeated ploughings, more of the lime will 

 be accumulated at the bottom of the foil than m any other 

 part of it ; and as the plough fometimea goes a little deeper 

 than ordinary, the lime that on thefe occalions chances to be 

 depofited in the bottom of thefe furrowp, will be below the 

 ordinary ilaple of the foil, it will be ufelefa for the purpofes 

 of the farmer, it is commonly thought that the lime has 

 funk through the foil by its own gravity, although it is cer- 

 tain that hme is fpecifically lighter than any foil, and can 

 only be accumulated at the bottom of the mould by the« 



This (liews that lime renders the fod unfriendly to the growth means above defcribed : others think that the lime is chemi 



of heath, and friendly to that of cluer. It is found by cally dilFolved, aud afterwards depofited there ; but this idea 



experience, that in all porous foils wl.ih are net expofed to is not corroborated by the fafts that have been already 



too much danipnefs, in every part of Scr.tland where lime brought to notice. The following direftions are apphcable 



has not been employed, hea h has a natijral and almod irre- in either cafe. To obviate this inconvenience, it behoves the 



fiftible propenfity to cftablilh itfclf. In thofe parts of the farmer, in the fird place, to be extremely attentive to have 



-country where lime has been much ufed as a manure, we his lime divided into as fmall particles as jioffible at the time 



find that the fields may be alloA-ed to remain long in grafs, of fpreading ; for, if thefe are fufficiently fmall, they incor- 



without becoming covered with that noxious plant. Again, poratc fo intimately with the mould, as to be incapable of 



it is well known by thofe who have been attentive, and have being eafily detached from it. On this account, as well as 



had opportunities of obferv.ing the fail, that peas of any others, it is always mod advifable to fpread the lime when 



fort can never be fuccefsfully cultivated in any part of the in its dry powdery date, immediately after flaking, before 



country where the foil is not of a very drong clayey na- it has had time to run into lumps. It is alio cf importance 



ture, or where lime or other calcareous manures have never to plough the foil with a more fliallow furrow than ufual 



been employed. If the groe.nd be made as rich as poffible when lime is put upon it, elpecially the fird time it is 



with common dung, although the peas in that cafe will ve- ploughed after the lime has been Iprcad upon its furface ; be- 



getate, and grow for fome time with vigour ; yet, before caule, at that ploughing, the lime being all on the furface, 



they begin to ripen, they become blighted, ufually die away a larger propoition of it is turned into the bottom of the 



entirely before the pod is formed, and but rarely produce a lalt made furrow than at any fncceediiig ploughing ; and 



few half-formed peas. But if the ground has ever been therefore more of it will be buried beneath the daple than at 



limed, although, perhaps, at the didance of thoufands of any other time, if the furrow fhall have been very deep, 



years before that period, it never lofes its power of pro- This circumdance becomes more elientially ncceflary in 



clucing good crops of peas, if it is put in a proper tilth ploughing grafs ground that has been newly limed; becaufe, 



for carrying them at the time. Again, in countries that in this cafe, the ime is lefs capable of being mixed with any 



have never been hmcd, the i;inds of grafs that fpontaneoufly part of the .'oil than in any other. It aifo becomes extreme- 

 appear, if left to therafelves, are the fmaU bent-grafs and ly neceffary, in all luccceding times, to guard as much as 



feather-grafs. In places where lime has ever been ufed, the poffible againft ploughing to unequal depths. See Ander- 



ground, if eshaudcd, produces fewer plants of thefe grades ; fon's Ellays. 



but in their dead white clover, the poa and fefcue grades. In the work on the prefent date of hufbandry in Great 



chiefly abound. The foil in either of thefe cafes may become 



equally poor ; that is, may produce equally fcanty crops : but 



the means of recovering them will be fomewhat different. In 



the hit cafe, a fallow feldom fails to prove beneficial. In the 



fird, it is often of no eifeft, fometimes even hurtful. In the 



lad, a moderate dreffmg of dun^ produces a much more 



fenfible and lading effedt thjn in the other. In the lad the 



quality of ihe grafs, as well as its quantity, rather improves 



by age. In the firl't thefe ci'-cumdances are reverfed. Several 



Other obfervations might be made, tending to fiiew that 



Britain, it is fuggeded as probable, that the propriety or im- 

 propriety of repeated hmings depend more on the nature of 

 the foil, and the modes of management afterwards adopted, 

 th:in on any other circumdance connected with it ; and that, 

 as in iome didritis it is repeated two or three times in the 

 courie of twenty years, while in others a repetition of liming, 

 except ill mixture with other fubltances, is found injurious, 

 it is impoflible to account for fuch variations in the practice 

 or its effects on the foil, without obferving, m the fird place, 

 that although there has been as yet no general rule edabhfticd, 



by 



