512 
The Influence of Lime on the 
namely, that soils and subsoils long below tbe reach of ordinary 
farm operations, always contain a very sensible quantity of 
ammonia. Even the lowest per rentage exhibited in this table 
would constitute a very considerable quantity of ammonia, when 
calculated on an acre of soil; whilst in the case of sample 15, 
the quantity of ammonia present is very many times more than 
would be added in a very heavy dressing of guano or other 
ammoniacal manure^ 
Eesults of the previous Experiments. 
Ammonia in 1000 grs. ■! 
natural soil . . . / 
Ammonia in 1000 grs. | 
soil after liming . f 
Ammonia in 1000 grs.j 
after liming and ex- 1 
posure to the vapour | 
of ammonia . . 
Ammonia in 1000 grs.i 
soil after exposure' 
to ammonia without j" 
liming . . . .J 
■No. 1.-). 
No. IC. 
No 17. 
No. 3. 
No. 5. 
No. 7. 
0-293 
0-1815 
0*085 
O-1O09 
0-1274 
0 ■ 083 
0'1G92 
0-1027 
0-040-1 
0-C502 
0-051 
2-22C 
2-066 
3-297 
1-0765 
3-2G5 
1-827 
1 -900 
2-557 
3-286 
1-0970 
2-615 
2-028 
No. 15. 'l"op soil ot London clay. 
16. Same soil from i^^ to 2 feet from surface. 
17. Soil from the same spot 3^ feet from surface. 
• 3. Loam of tertiary drilt, 4 i'ect below surface. 
5. Gault clay — surface soil. 
7. Ditto, 4 feet from surface. 
Even in the sample No. 3, a subsoil 4 feet from the surface, 
we have a proporticm of ammonia which, calculated on a soil 10 
inches deep, would give about 2 cwt. of real ammonia to the 
acre, equal to six times its weight of guano. It is some satis- 
faction to feel that there is everywhere such provision of this 
invaluable alkali. 
The second result which is exhibited by these experiments is, 
that the action of lime in the presence of water is to set free 
from the soil as nearly as possible one half of the ammonia. 
This result is so nearly the same in all the 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 ammonia — such compounds are 
not unusual or new to the chemist. 
The idea that lime improves a soil by enabling it to absorb 
more ammonia hardly receives confirmation from these experi- 
ments ; indeed, with two exceptions, the Cjuantity of ammonia 
