THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



241 



liming, and then after being exposed to 

 the fumes of carbonate ammonia till it had 

 absorbed as much as it would. The fol- 

 lowing table exhibits the results : 



Os O 



o »o 

 — > o 



to o 



r— os 



O CN 



rH CO 



lO O 



GO 



O O 



o o 



rH CM 



CO O 



O CO 



co o 



O Os 



CO Os 



O CO 



Os rH 



rH O 



CO Ifi 



<N O 

 <N OS 



o o 



<£ u 



ci o 



o > 



W 03 



2 .-5 



.3 d 



O Q. 

 rH O 



.5 d 



.5 C.£ 



a a a 



<! 



no -g 

 & o 



£ a 

 a 



o 



— r © 

 p 



..a o 



I III 



£ co 



o 



o 



t K«| "S 



. HH 



03 



o a 



a^ 



E3 



5 $ 



SO®™ 



rH CM CO lO 



o" 6 o" o d o' 



It is evident that lime neither assisted 

 nor interferred with the absorption of am- 

 monia, and hence the beneficial effect of 

 liming on such soils must be accounted for 

 on some other supposition. This negative 

 result, however, does not disprove the 

 truth of Prof. Way's hypothesis, for it may 

 be that the silicate salt in the natural soils 

 was that of lime and not that of soda. In- 

 deed, the extent to which the natural soils 

 absorbed ammonia — equal, in No. 3, to 

 about 7,000 lbs. of ammonia per acre, 

 equivalent to tne quantity contained in 

 700 tons of barn-yard manure — shows this 

 to have been the case. 



The lime liberated one-half the ammonia 

 contained in the soil. 



"This result," says Prof. Way, "is so 

 nearly the same in all cases, that we are 

 justified in believing it to be due to some 



special cause, and probably it arises from 

 the existence of some compound silicates 

 containing ammonia, of which lime under 

 the circumstances can replace one-half — 

 forming, for instance, a double silicate of 

 alumina, with half lime and half ammo- 

 nia — such compounds are not unusual or 

 new to the chemist." 



This loss of ammonia from a heavy 

 dressing of lime is very great. A soil five 

 inches deep weighs in round numbers 500 

 tons, or 1,000,000 lbs. The soil, No. 1, 

 contained 0393 per cent, of ammonia, or 

 in an acre, five inches deep, 293 lbs. 

 After liming it contained 0169 per cent., 

 or in an acre five inches deep, 169 lbs. 

 The loss by liming is 124 lbs. of ammonia 

 per acre. This is equal to the quantity 

 contained in 800 lbs. of (rood Peruvian 

 guano, or 12| tons of barn-yard manure. . 



In commenting on this great loss of am- 

 monia from liming, Prof. Way observes : 



" Is it not possible, that for the profita- 

 ble agricultural use, the ammonia is too 

 highly locked up in it? Can we suppose 

 that the very powers of the soil to unite 

 with and preseve the elements of manure 

 are, however excellent a provision of na- 

 ture, yet in some degree opposed to the 

 growth of the abnormal crops which it is 

 the business of the farmer to cultivate? 

 There is no absolute reason why such 

 should not be the case. A provision of 

 nature must relate to natural circumstan- 

 ces ; for instance, compounds of ammonia 

 may be found in the soil capable of giving 

 out to the agencies of water and air quite 

 enough of ammonia for the growth of ordi- 

 nary plants and the preservation of their 

 species ; but this supply may be totally in- 

 adequate to the necessities of man. * * 

 * Now it is not impossible that the laws 

 which preserve the supply of vegetable 

 nutrition in the soil, are too stringent for 

 the requirements of an unusual and exces- 

 sive vegetation, such as the cultivator 

 must promote." 



"In the case of ammonia locked up in 

 the soil, lime may be the remedy at the 

 command of the farmer — his means of ren- 

 dering immediately available stores of 

 wealth, which can otherwise only slowly 

 be brought into use." 



" In this view, lime would well deserve 

 the somewhat vague name that has been 

 given it, namely, that of a 'stimulant;' for 

 its application would be in some sort an 



