LIME.-CATTLE. 
65 
Bog0 ^Department. 
Lime. — I perceive, in looking over the January 
number of the Agriculturist, that a department is 
assigned for the boys. Being very fond of children, I 
beg to be allowed from time to time to have a short 
talk with them in these columns. 
My young friends, you have often seen and heard 
of lime . The ladies beautify their houses, and make 
them pure and healthy by whitewashing their walls 
with a wash made by slacking fresh burned lime in 
water. How neat a farmer's fence looks that has 
been lately whitewashed. Boys, if you have a fowl 
house, you should whitewash it often ; for it makes 
it look well, and destroys the vermin. As soon as 
your fathers will permit you to go about the stables, 
and you have any care of them, you must not fail 
to whitewash all the stalls for the cattle and horses. 
It not only makes the stables more health)' - , but looks 
nice. I would whitewash my piggery also, for a pig 
likes a clean house to lie in, as well as a horse or cow. 
Well, boys, what is lime? Would you believe 
that pure lime is a metal ? This was discovered by 
Sir Humphrey Davy, in England, by means of a 
powerful galvanic battery, which I shall explain to 
you one of these days. Sir Humphrey obtained the 
ure metal, which is of a white color. This metal 
as a strong attraction for oxygen gas, and when they 
combine, the oxide of lime is formed. This is the 
quicklime of which whitewash is made. There are 
a good many kinds of lime that you will read about, 
and I. want you to recollect that the base, or principal 
art, is a metal. To convince you of this, it is well 
nown that in 28 parts or pounds of quick lime, 
there are 20 of metal lime, and 8 of oxygen gas. The 
most important kinds of lime (or salts of lime, as they 
are called by chemists), for the young farmer to un¬ 
derstand, are the carbonate of lime, and the sulphate 
of lime, or plaster of Paris. 
The Carbonate of Lime is composed of carbonic 
acid and oxide of lime, and it exists in the form of 
common limestone. Chalk is also carbonate of 
lime; so is marble, and oyster and clam shells, &c. 
Now, to obtain the oxide of lime or quicklime for 
mortar, whitewash, &c., and to enrich worn out 
farms, they take the limestone from quarries, and 
burn it in lime kilns. This drives all the carbonic 
acid away, and leaves the oxide or quick lime. It is 
now called caustic lime, because of its burning pro¬ 
perties. A man fell into a large vat, where they were 
making mortar of this lime; he was immediately 
taken out, but was so severely scalded, that most of 
his skin was blistered, and one eye was destroyed. 
If you take some of this quick lime, and put it in 
a pitcher, and pour water on it, it will slack ; let it 
stand few a while, and settle, and then pour off the 
transparent portion. This is lime-water. You must 
now put this in bottles and cork them, for the doc¬ 
tor says that it is a good remedy for a sour stomach, 
in case you should eat too many apples at any time— 
as well as a remedy for summer complaint and dys¬ 
pepsia. You should know also that lime-water and 
linseed or olive oil mixed together make one of the 
best applications for a bum. Wet linen rags with it, 
and apply it to the burn. Don’t take these rags off, 
but keep them wet constantly with the wash. You 
can use it with the feather end of a quill. But why 
should you cork it up in the bottles 3 Because the 
5 
lime water has such an attraction for carbonic acid 
gas, that it will combine with it if it can get at it: as 
this gas is always floating in the air, if the water is 
exposed, it will unite with the lime. Pour a little 
out in a tumbler, and let it stand awhile. You will 
see a scum on the top ; this is the carbonate of lime, 
formed in that way by attracting the carbonic acid 
from the air. Try another experiment. Take some 
clear lime water, introduce a tube in it—a quill will 
answer—now blow through the quill into it. You 
will soon perceive the water to become turbid. The 
white flakes are the carbonate of lime. What caused 
this? Why your breath. When you breathe yoi 
inhale atmospheric air, which is composed of oxygei 
and nitrogen ; but when you exhale or expel it from 
the lungs, it is carbonic acid ; and as the lime has a 
strong desire to unite with it, the carbonate is formed. 
The Sulphate of Lime , or Plaster of Paris, is com¬ 
posed of sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol), and quick 
lime. This is of the greatest value to farmers, and is 
extensively used by them to enrich their lands. 
When it was first introduced in this country, such a 
prejudice existed against it that few if any farmers 
would use it. It was brought from Paris. Dr. Frank¬ 
lin, to show what it would do, sowed on a field some 
plaster, so as to form these words, “ This was sown 
with plaster and when the grass grew, the sentence 
could be distinctly read, in consequence of the grass 
having a larger growth, and being so much better 
Some would not use it, because it had no bad smell 
or taste! It is now used not only by sowing it on 
the land, but also to improve the quality of manure j 
for it has been found to prevent all those offensive 
gases from escaping from the yard and stables, which 
are the richest and most valuable parts of the manure. 
Boys, you will hear many stories about this plas¬ 
ter. Some will say it does so much good that they 
would not do without it if they had to pay any price 
for it. Others will say it injures their land. If you 
will watch very close, you will find that very few 
understand the nature of this substance. It is like 
many other similar articles, which we will talk about 
hereafter. The earth must have a certain quantity of 
it to produce good crops. Now, if it does not exist, 
or only in small quantities, then if you add it on the 
right kind of crops (see note, page 52 of this No.'i, it 
will do much good. But if it exists already abun¬ 
dantly in the soil, then if you add any more, it either 
does no good, or burns (as farmers say) the crops. 
As this is somewhat expensive, I want you, my 
young friends, when you go on your farms, to try the 
experiment whether your land wants it or not, before 
you use it; for I am convinced many are now using 
this article without its being of any benefit to their 
farms. Your friend, Playmate. 
Cattle. —If any of our young readers are entrust¬ 
ed with the care of cattle, let them see that they are 
kept clean now and well housed and fed, for Februa¬ 
ry is usually the coldest month of the year. Don’t 
let it be said of your fathers, when spring comes, that 
they are good farmers in the following sense. “ Jake, 
is your master a good farmer ?” “ 0 yes, fussrate 
farmer—he make two crops in one year.” “ How 
is that, Jake ?” “ Why, he sell all de hay in de fall, 
and make money once—den in de spring he sell de 
hides of de cattle that die for want of de hay, and 
make money twice!’* 
