Ground  JAme. 
255 
sample  of  town  i-efuse  from  a Midland  district,  and,  after  careful 
sifting  and  mixing,  and  making  allowance  for  the  proportion 
of  coarse  rubbish  it  contained  (and  which  could  have  practically 
no  manorial  value),  I obtained  the  following  as  the  general 
composition  of  the  sample  in  its  natural  whole  state  : — 
Moisture  ......  23'96 
'Organic  matter  .....  25’92 
Lime  .......  1'89 
’Phosphoric  acid  . . . . . ‘67 
Oxide  of  iron,  &c.  ....  36'ol 
Insoluble  siliceous  matter  . . . 10'95 
100-00 
'Containing  nitrogen  . . . -51 
Equal  to  ammonia  . . . . -61 
’Equal  to  phosphate  of  lime  . . 1-45 
The  proportion  of  coai-se  rubbish  was  27  per  cent,  and  of 
fine  rubbish  and  ashes  73  per  cent.  In  the  application  of  such 
a material  one  ought  to  take  into  consideration  the  nature  of 
the  land  to  which  if  is  to  be  applied  ; some  lands  of  stiff 
heavy  character  may  be  impi’oved  mechanically  and  physically 
by  the  turning  in  of  rubbish  of  this  class  which  “opens”  them 
out  and  improves  drainage  ; others  again  may  be  benefited  by 
the  increase  of  organic  matter  and  the  better  retention  of 
moisture,  while  on  other  soils  the  further  opening  of  the  soil 
and  consequent  want  of  consolidation  may  be  the  very  worst 
thing  for  them. 
5.  Ground  Lime. 
Much  has  been  written  about  the  advantages  of  using 
“ ground  lime,”  /.^.,  lime  which,  after  being  burnt,  has  been 
ground  finely  in  a mill.  Instead  of  giving  a heavy  dressing  of 
lime — say  2 tons  or  4 tons  per  acre — it  is  maintained  that 
as  good  a result  can  be  obtained  by  using  smaller  dressings  of 
a few  cwt.  at  a time  at  small  expense,  if  the  lime  be  first  well 
ground,  the  distribution  being  so  much  better  and  the  action 
quicker.  My  own  experience  in  this  direction  has  been  that 
“ ground  lime”  is  hard  to  obtain,  and  that  even  when  obtainable 
it  is  not  infrequently  found  to  be  of  inferior  quality,  as  the 
following  analysis  of  a sample  from  York  shows  : — 
Percentage  of — 
Lime  (CaO) 64-05 
Oxide  of  iron  and  alumina  . . . 5-79 
Silica 15-18 
Over  20  per  cent,  of  this  was  stone  and  other  matters  not 
“ ground  lime.” 
