170 



THE TTHEAT CULTUEIST. 



In nmiierous instances, the chief element wanting to 

 make a soil prodnctive. is lime. But it is folly, and manv 

 times injmious to the soil, to apply a di'essing of lime 

 when lime is not the thing reqnii'ed. The only way in 



^vhich a tanner can deteri:.':: ? - h ether lime is required 

 in a S'jil. is by numer-ja- cxpeiiments on his own 

 land. 



Ashes are needed in almost every soil, on accotmt of 

 the amount of p'T'tash required to form a stiff, healthy 

 straw. See my re na: a a: a-kes in the latter part of 

 this book, in the chapter on insects and diseases of wheat. 



TThat a Bap.p.ex Sr.iL Lacks. 



Daniel Lee, one of the most scientilic wi'iters of 

 America on Agricultm*al Chemistry, writes : 



Eveiy obseiwing fanner knows that it is far easier to 



produce a large growtli of straw than a great yield of 

 grain. This cjme^ n ini a lack of knowledge of the 

 tilings which fjrm the seeds of cereal plants. Phos- 

 phorus and ammonia, or available niti'ogen and phos- 

 phoric acid — the things wanting in oat straw to make 

 the seeds .jf tlrk pkint — are not very cheap nor abundant. 

 Guano contai:;- a- 'r ? 'jf t: e:n than any other fertilizer 

 now in the ma: k-:. E ji.-- also abound in these ele- 

 ments. Limestone that contains the remains of shells 

 a::d aakiiak. ak-:' a- j^^esses mare or less phosphoric acid. 

 Ea: -.vVere a i> -o badly v-.jrn that it will not bear 

 over twenty ba.-kek 'ji oats, it had better be seeded with 

 clover, and limed, salted, plastered, and ashed, as well 

 as manured, to a moderate extent. Tliis. with -suhsoil 

 ploughing, will soC'R bring it up. while the crop of clover 

 will pay all the expenses. 



