LIME. 



by which a farmer can dcterTitne what quantity ef lime is bed 

 fuited to a particular foil, yet in praftice, a greater quantity 

 is hid on ftrong, denfc, itubborn foils, than on thofe of a more 

 friable nature. In the fecond place, that the diverfity of 

 meafures by which lime is fold at the different kilns, is often 

 fo great, as to leave it doubtful whether a farmer in one part 

 of the ifland, who applies three chaldrons to the acre, does 

 not ufe lefs than he who, in another dillrift, applies two. 

 And in the third place, that the quality of linie-fhells is 

 fo extremely different, that in forne cafes the farmer who 

 lays five chaldrons on the acre, does not apply a greater 

 quantity of effective manure than another who limes an acre 

 with three only. And from various circumllances which have 

 been already noticed, in fpeaking of calcareous earth, as 

 well as from the great and general advantage of this fub- 

 ftance on all foils and fituations, except fuch asareprevioudy 

 replete with calcareous matter, or too moid, the writer of 

 the " Philofophy of Agriculture" conceives, that its effedls 

 can only be underftood from the idea of its aftually fupply- 

 ing the nutrition of vegetables. This is ftill farther con- 

 firmed, by its contributing fo much to the amelioration of 

 the crops, as well as to their increafe in quantity, as noticed 

 by millers and bakers. If it be applied in a large quantity, 

 it likewife kills animals in the foils, and alfo fmall vegetables, 

 and from the dellroyed and decayed animals and vegetables, 

 the foil is rendered more fertile, by being impregnated with 

 mucilage. The fuperabundant lime is ufeful as it becomes 

 mild calcareous earth, by attracting carbonic acid from the 

 atmofphere, and afterwards gradually affording it to plants. 

 By the fermentation it brings on, and the finenefs of its par- 

 ticles, the texture of the earth is opened and divided. 



It is evident that light fandy lands, containing only a fmall 

 portion of vegetable matter, (hould not be overdone with 

 lime, unlefs we can affift them liberally with animal manures. 

 Its great excellence on a fandy foil is its mechanically binding 

 the loofe particles, and preventing the different parts of the 

 manure from efcaping out of the reach of the crop. On 

 clay, by means of the gentle fermentation which lime pro- 

 duces, the ftubborn foil is opened ; the manure readily comes 

 into contact with every part of it, and the fibres of the plants 

 have full liberty to fpread. It is often faid that lime anfwers 

 better upon fand than clay ; but let the farmer treble the quan- 

 tity, and he will be convinced that lime is better for clay than 

 fand. Clay well limed becomes a marie, falling in water, and 

 fermenting with acids ; the air, rain, and dews are freely ad- 

 mitted, and the foil retains the nourifhment of each. In con- 

 fequence of a fermentation raifed in the foil, the fixed air is 

 fet at liberty, which in a wonderful manner promotes vege- 

 tation. It is the nature of Kme, in its aftive ftate, to dif- 

 folve vegetable bodies. Uporr this principle v/e may account 

 for the wonderful effefts it produces in the improvement of 

 black moor-land, which confifts of diffolved and half dif- 

 folved vegetable fubllances. And it may be obferved in ge- 

 neral, that the greateft quantity fhould be ufed upon the 

 deeped and richeil foils, and the leail upon thofe that are 

 thin and light. On drong clays and deep loams there is a 

 fubdantial body forit to operEte upon ; confequently, a con- 

 fiderable quantity will be required to pervade and give due 

 aftivity to the whole ; but as the foil is lighter, the quantity 

 mud be lefs, and the after-management in regard to crops 

 extremely cautious. In liming a fingle field, an attention to 

 the quantity will often be found neceffary : the foil of the 

 higher parts being for the mod part light and free, and that 

 of the lower more deep and compaft, v.here the ground is 

 unequal. On fome foils, particularly where the bottom is 

 chalk, lime-done, or marie, lime will be pernicious, efpecially 

 if the foil be thin. 



Whatever be the method in which lime produces its bene- 

 ficial effefts upon land, it fhould always be reduced into ae 

 fine a powder ai poffible, and fpread out with the ^/reateft 

 equality upon the foil, as by thefe means it will be more 

 equally blended with it, and be more extenfively ufeful in 

 promoting the growth of crops, 



Confidering lime as a fubdance operating upon the living 

 fubdances in the foil, as weU as mechanically upon the foil 

 itfelf, we perceive the neceflity of applying a fufficient 

 quantity at once, in order to produce thefe effects: for, if 

 the quantity employed be fmall, and the foil deep, its effcfts 

 will be fcarcely perceived. Many farmers imagine that hme 

 will not anfwer upon their lands, becaufe they have laid it on 

 in Imall quantities, whereas in all probability they would have 

 found a larger dofe highly beneficial. On clay, four or five 

 hundred budiels are laid on for wheat, but it can fcarcely be 

 expefted to anfwer theexpence. On mofs, bog, moor, &c. 

 to be reclaimed from a ifate of nature, the more is hid on 

 the better it is. The beneficial effe£t of Time on fandy land 

 may be explained from its binding quality. But when fuch 

 lands are fird broken up from their date of heath, the vege- 

 table matter is afted upon and reduced to manure by the cor- 

 rofive power of the lime. On fuch lands, the fird crop of 

 rye has more than paid the expences. By attracting water, 

 lime has a tendency to lay land dry. By infinuating itfelf 

 between the particles of clay, it dedroys their adhefions, 

 breaks the diffnefs of the foil, and gives readier accefs to the 

 operation of manures, and to the extenfion of the growing 

 roots of plants. By attiading carbonic acid, or fixed air 

 and water, and by its corrofive properties, it dedroys the 

 texture of bodies, and reduces vegetable matter to a date of 

 manure. It unites drongly with oils, and renders thera 

 mifcible with water. By being dedruftive to infefts and ver- 

 min, it may alfo contribute to preferve the fpringing corn 

 from their ravages. 



Dr. Anderfon, however, fuggeds, that, from writers on 

 agriculture having long been in the cudom of dividing ma- 

 nures into two claffes, viz. enriching manures, or thole that 

 tended direftly to render the foil more prolific, however de- 

 rile it may be, among the foremod of which was reckoned 

 dung ; and exciting manures, or thofe that were fuppofed 

 to have a tendency to render the foil more prolific, merely 

 by adtiiig upon thofe enriching manures that had been for- 

 merly in the foil, and giving them a new dimulus, fo as to 

 enable them to operate anew upon that foil which they had 

 formerly fertilized : in which clafs of dimulating manures 

 lime was always allowed to hold the foremod rank ; it would 

 follow, that lime could only be of ufe as a manure when ap- 

 plied to rich foils ; and, when applied to poor foils, would 

 produce hardly any, or even perhaps hurtful effedts. He 

 acknowledges that he was fo far impofed upon by the beauty 

 of this theory, as to be hurried along with the general cur- 

 rent of mankind, in the firm periuafion of the truth of the 

 obfervation, and for many years did not fufficicntly advert 

 to thofe fads that were daily occurring to contradift it. 

 He is now, however, firmly convinced, from repeated ob- 

 fervations, that lime and other calcareous manures produce 

 a much greater proportional improvement upon poor foils 

 than on fuch as are richer ; and that lime alone, upon a 

 poor foil, will, in many cafes, produce a much greater and 

 more lalting degree of fertility than dung alone. In direft 

 contradiction to the theory it is added, that he never yet met 

 with a poor foil in its natural date, which was not benefited in 

 a very great degree by calcareous matters, when adminidered 

 in prooer quantities. But he has met v.-ith feveral rich foils 

 that v^-ere fully impregnated with dung, and therefore exactly 

 in that date in which the theory fuppofes that lime would 

 H 2 produce 



