AGRICULTURE IN SCOTLAND, 
83 
Agriculture in Scotland—No. 5. 
Lime. —Among agricultural subjects of interest, 
there are few more important than that of the use of 
lime, and scarcely any which in intercourse with the 
farmers of this country is more frequently recurred to. 
It has its place in almost every rotation, and in many 
districts is relied on as the chief means of restoring 
to fertility the exhausted soil, or of continuing the 
fertile soil in its best possible condition. With many' 
farmers, indeed, the use of it has been carried so far 
as to prove injurious; from this and other causes, 
which I shall presently notice, have arisen the con¬ 
flicting opinions upon the subject that may be found ■ 
not only in different districts, but among persons who 
live in the same neighborhood. 
I had the pleasure of attending, a few weeks since, 
a meeting of the St. Quivox Farmers’ Club, in Ayr, a 
club distinguished for the zeal of its members in agri¬ 
cultural improvement. Mr. Campbell, of Craigie, 
and Mr. Burnett, of Gadgirth, whose experiments,; 
especially those of the latter gentleman, have been so 
much quoted and commended in Professor Johnston’s 
lectures, are the President and Vice President of the 
Club. The subject of lime was proposed for discus¬ 
sion, and each of the members was called upon by 
the president in succession, to state facts from his 
own experience and observation, and to give his pecu¬ 
liar views as to the benefits of lime, and its mode of 
action. 
When lime was mentioned, I supposed that all 
would be agreed as to its merits, and that we should 
only have a series of illustrations of its virtues. My 
mistake was soon apparent, for scarcely any two co-: 
incided in their opinions. All had used lime more or; 
less, but while some experienced from its employ¬ 
ment the most striking benefits, others had been en¬ 
tirely disappointed; they had not perceived the least 
improvement in their crops, and declared their deter¬ 
mination never to use it again. These contradictory 
statements, coming all of them from shrewd, practical 
men, were very perplexing to me, and continued so 
until Professor Johnston pointed out several circum¬ 
stances which may account for what at first sight 
seem fatal and irreconcilable discrepancies. 
First. Much of the land about Ayr, and farther in¬ 
land, though not swampy, is wet: I saw rushes 
growing on some pasture fields to the very tops of the 
hills. Now, upon such land, in its natural state, 
the same striking and permanent effects are scarcely 
to be expected from the application of lime, as upon 
drier land, for much of its beneficial action results 
from its warming the soil, from its neutralizing nox¬ 
ious substances, and decomposing various compounds, 
thus fitting their ingredients to enter into the compo¬ 
sition of plants. This action cannot, in anything 
approaching its full extent, take place where a great 
excess of water is present. Until such lands as the 
above are drained, therefore, the comparative failure 
of an equal dressing of lime should not excite sur¬ 
prise, or militate against the fact of its general use¬ 
fulness. 
Second. Throughout the coal formation which 
overspreads Ayr and Renfrewshires, the trap rocks in 
many places come to the surface. Trap is the geo¬ 
logical name for a species of rock which is considered 
to be an ancient lava. It lay originally far below 
the coal formation, and when in a liquid molten 
state, forced its way upwards through them, and in 
some instances even spread itself over the surface, 
like a gigantic mushroom, or a broad, thick blanket. 
Now, wherever this trap rock comes to the light, of 
course a soil differing from that of the coal measures 
is formed, a soil which we may confidently state to 
be at least partially supplied with lime. In confir¬ 
mation of this, I give the results of a chemical exam¬ 
ination of several specimens of traps, from various 
parts of Scotland, made in the Edinburgh laboratory, 
partly by myself, but chiefly by Mr. Fromberg, Ihe 
first assistant. These analyses were made at Profes¬ 
sor Johnston’s suggestion, and under his direction, for 
the purpose of illustrating this very point; and they 
do so quite successfully. They all contain lime in 
three states—carbonate, soluble silicate, and insoluble 
silicate. 
3S 
rs 
- 
pO a*. 
P 8 
.5 8 
1 E 
I 
oa gij 
O- 
C02 
e-3 
£ 
p.ct. 
p. ct. 
p. cL 
p. ct. 
4.26 
5.75 
10.81 
19.21 
0.12 
2.78 
11.09 
19.74 
2.18 
2.48 
7.68 
13.64 
0.71 
0.91 
2.34 
4.16 
0.41 
6.66 
7.86 
13.97 
0.51 
6.85 
8.04 
14.27 
0.68 
6.88 
8.16 
14.49 
Trap from Pentland Hills, 
Trap from Salisbury Crags, 
“ “ “ decomposed, 
Trap from Rothesay, Isle of Bute, 0.79 0.41 6j 
“ “ partially decomposed, 
“ “ still more decomposed, 
In explanation of this table, I may say, that the 
first column represents the lime which was present 
in the state of carbonate, and of course in a condition 
to be slowly dissolved by the gradual action of water 
alone containing carbonic acid, as rain water and the 
water in the soil always does. The second column 
represents that soluble in hydrochloric (muriatic) acid, 
by the aid of heat. This was in the state of soluble 
silicate. The third column represents that w^ich was 
wholly insoluble in acid, and only obtained by fusing 
the powdered rock. This was all in the stale of sili¬ 
cate of lime; that is, lime in combination with silica, 
commonly known as quartz. The fourth column 
represents the amount of caustic lime, or quicklime, 
and the fifth the amount of the whole, calculated as 
carbonate of lime, o-r common limestone, the form in 
which it is most familiarly known. 
It will at once be obvious from an inspection of 
this table, that a rock which in every hundred pounds 
contains from six to ten pounds of quicklime, or from 
13 to nearly 2.0 of carbonate of lime, must, as it 
gradually disintegrates, influence beneficially the cha¬ 
racter of the soil which it forms. The carbonate is 
at once available for the food of plants, and the sili¬ 
cates will in time decompose, and yield up their lime 
also, thus giving a steady and inexhaustible supply. 
It is now easy, after what I have before stated 
respecting the varied character of the rocks in Ayr¬ 
shire, to account for the contradictory opinions which 
prevail there. One farmer may be located upon one 
of these up-pourings of trap, while another in his im¬ 
mediate neighborhood may be upon the coal forma¬ 
tion. The land of the last, being deficient in lime, 
will exhibit a wonderful improvement on its addition ; 
the former may determine also to try its effect, and 
after much expense may be entirely disappointed 
These two farmers will thenceforth hold entirely 
different sentiments ; the last will protest that lime is 
of no use whatever, and the first will recommend it 
in all cases. But as we have seen that the land of 
the one already contained an abundance of lime, 
while the other had none, we perceive that both of 
their views are erroneous. It is only by looking be 
