312 
QUERIES — LIME, THE FOOD OF PLANTS. 
QUERIES— LIME, THE FOOD OF PLANTS. 
I wish to offer a few remarks upon some of 
your correspondents, who, I think, are a little 
careless in some of their language. I do not 
wish to discourage anybody from writing for 
your useful paper, but as I am an uneducated 
farmer, I desire to read articles that I can under- 
stand without too much trouble ; for, as Lord 
Chesterfield used to say, " where the sense lies 
so very deep, it is generally not worth the 
trouble of digging up." His meaning, however, 
I do not intend to apply, by any means, to all 
the articles I may notice, as the first one, for 
instance, is good enough in itself, namely, " To 
Measure the Height of Standing Trees ;" but I 
think persons unacquainted with trigonometry, 
unless they had seen the operation performed, 
could not understand it. What does "A Travel- 
ler " mean by the " point of distance," where no 
distance is given 1 
The next article, "Gunpowder for Choked 
Cattle," looks something like punning. Query. 
Would it not be as well to " use the fire " with 
the first charge 1 [Yes. — Eds.] 
"To Destroy Weeds in Walks." Would not 
the boiling water answer without the chloride 
of sodium ? It might take a little more of it. 
I observe, also, (and the observation is not 
intended to apply to any one writer,) that you 
hold the doctrine, in your paper, that lime is 
not a direct food for plants. Now, I am not 
going to dispute this, for I am no chemist, and I 
do not know, that, as a farmer, I dissent, except- 
ing partially, in my practice, from your conclu- 
sions; but I confess myself unable to understand 
your theories, when you assert that lime is not 
a direct food for plants. I suppose you mean 
the lime which we Pennsylvania and New-Jer- 
sey farmers get from Philadelphia and New 
York, and which I see you call carbonate of 
lime. If you do not, I wish to understand you. 
And this lime contains a considerable quantity 
of carbon, which, (carbon,) is the base of all 
straw or stalks of plants. Query. Is this evi- 
dence of direct food ? I do not profess to be 
acquainted with chemical terms, and may mis- 
understand. Indeed, I am unable to understand 
the conclusions arrived at, in this particular; 
but am anxious, when I read, to comprehend 
what I am reading, and would be pleased to see 
what appears to be a prima-facie contradiction 
explained. A Subscriber. 
We have never meant to be understood as 
denying that lime is a direct food for plants. Ev- 
ery correct analysis shows lime to exist, in great- 
er or less proportions, in the ash of all plants, how- 
ever minute this proportion may be. What we 
do say, is, that the beneficial effects of lime are 
mainly due to its effects on soils, changing their 
elements from inert and intractable matters, 
which are perfectly unadapted to minister to the 
growth of crops, in their present condition. 
These beneficial effects are not confined to 
the fixed or earthy parts of soils, but are appa- 
rent in the arrest and hoarding of the fertilising 
materials floating in the air, or which are 
brought into contact with it, by rains and dews, 
or irrigating streams. It also concocts and com- 
bines with the vegetable food and manures 
which are brought to the soil and mixed with 
them, and prepares them for assimilation with 
the growing crops. These are the principle 
benefits we claim for lime, there probably being 
enough of it in any soil, to furnish the quantity 
taken up and permanently retained in the 
crops of a hundred, or it may be, a thousand 
seasons. — Eds. 
IMPROVED CORN AND COB CRUSHER. 
This machine is designed for crushing corn 
and cobs for feeding to stock or previous to 
passing through millstones for grinding into 
fine provender. It is also used to crack corn, 
alone, suitable for hommony or for the use of 
stables. It has the merit of compactness, dura- 
bility, uniformity in its work, and economy of 
power. Its height, when set up for work, is 
about three feet. It will grind the cobs and 
corn to the same degree of fineness, and this it 
will do when the corn is damp, or even green, 
without clogging. It is generally moved by a 
four-inch belt, but it may be driven by gear, with- 
out inconvenience. This machine will crack 
the corn and cob much faster than one stone 
can grind them. It is also asserted by experi- 
enced millers, that any millstones will grind at 
least one fourth faster and finer when the cobs 
are cut up in this manner. Price $50 
Corn and Cob Crusher. — Fig. 77. 
Cut Worms. — These pests are most effectu- 
ally destroyed at the north, by deeply plowing 
the fields, just as the winter is setting in. They 
have by this time settled into their snug winter 
quarters, far below the surface, and by throw- 
ing them upon or near the surface, where the 
pelting storms and severe frosts will catch them, 
when too much chilled to seek anew for a hid- 
ing place, large quantities of them will be des- 
troyed. 
Colonel Fluker, of Louisiana, says, for 
the cotton crop of that state, they are most 
effectually exterminated by plowing deep about 
the 1st of April, just before planting the cotton. 
In this way, millions have been destroyed, and 
his own fields have been saved from their rava- 
ges, while others around him have been greatly 
impaired by them. 
