38 
AMERIOAN AGRIO[JLTUKIfcST. 
[October, 
ignored without loss. Any ground in the climate 
of New York that is not sown on the first of Octo¬ 
ber, had better be fall fallowed and sown iu the 
spring; unless there is some very excellent rea¬ 
son for the departure from this path of wisdom. 
Lime and Lime Kilns. 
The periodical use of lime as a fertilizer is neces¬ 
sary to good culture. In the best cultivated parts 
of the country, lime is used once in every rotation 
of five crops, the usual rotation being two years 
grass, corn, oats, wheat, or rye, seeded to grass and 
clover again. The lime is applied to the land when 
it is plowed for the fall grain, and is harrowed in 
before the seed is drilled, or it is harrowed in 
with the seed, sown broadcast. The quantity 
used is from 40 to 50 bushels per acre. The effect 
of lime is both mechanical and chemical; it opens 
Fig.l. IMPROVED LIME KILN WITH ELEVATED TRACK. 
and loosens heavy clays, and consolidates light, 
loose, sandy, or peaty vegetable soils ; it has the 
effect of liberating potash from the soil, and of de¬ 
composing inert organic matter, and reducing it to 
an available condition. But while it is beneficial, 
it can not be used alone without exhausting the 
soil of its fertile properties. This is evident from 
what has been said of its character ; at least this is 
true, so far as regards its effects beyond affording 
directly to the crops any lime that they may appro¬ 
priate from the supply thus given. All the benefits 
received beyond this is a direct draft ou the natural 
stores of the soil. It is, therefore necessary to 
good agriculture, that either a thrifty clover sod 
should bo plowed under, at, least once in the rota¬ 
tion, or that a liberal dressing of mauure be given, 
or both of these. In those localities where the 
benefits to be derived from the skillful use of lime 
are best known and appreciated, tliis method is 
practised ; a heavy sod being plowed under, after 
having been pastured one year, for the corn, and a 
good coating of manure being given when the land 
is plowed for fall grain, lender such treatment, 
the soil is able to maintain itself and return prof¬ 
itable crops. It is not 
where this course is 
pursued ttiat com¬ 
plaints are prevalent of 
the unprofitableness of 
farming. The use of 
lime is spreading grad¬ 
ually into tile Western 
States, where the com¬ 
petition of the still 
farther and fresher 
western fields is being 
severely felt. The ex¬ 
perience of eastern 
Fig. 2.— tue arch. farmers is now being 
repeated in what were 
once the Western States, and every appliance 
of scientific and thorough agriculture is found to 
be needed to maintain those western farmers in 
the close contest for a living. This is evident from 
the fact that we have inquiries from Ohio and Illi¬ 
nois, in regard to the use of lime and the structure 
of permanent lime kilns. Several illustrations and 
descriptions have already been given in the Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist (September, 1871, and February, 
1875,) of both temporary and permanent kilns, and 
we now give another, suitable for use under cir- j 
eumstances where those are not available. This 
kiln (fig. 1) is intended to stand upon level ground, 
aud is furnished with a sloping track, upon which 
self-dumping cars containing fuel or lime may be 
drawn up by horse-power with a rope aud pulleys. 
The body of the kiln may be 20 feet square at the 
bottom, and 30 feet high, with a Hue above the 
stack of 10 to 20 feet. The stack may be.built of 
stone or brick, but should be lined with fire-brick 
or refractory sand-stone. At fig. 1 is given a side 
view with the elevated track, under which are the 
store sheds for the lime. The arch (fig. 2) is pro¬ 
tected by the shed under the track, and the engrav¬ 
ing gives a front view of that part of the kiln which 
is shown in dotted lines at A, fig. 1. At B , B, are 
two bearing bars of cast-iron, 3 x 2 inches thick, 
which support the draw bars, C. These.are made 
of li in. round wrought-iron, having rings at the 
outer end, and of which there are four to the foot 
across the throat of the kiln, which is four or five 
feet in diameter. The rings serve to admit a crow¬ 
bar, by which the bars, or some of them, are drawn 
out to let down the charge of lime. The open 
space, B, is intended for the insertion of the bar to 
loosen or break the lime, should the throat become 
gorged. A cast-iron frame, with an aperture of 3 
x 24 inches, is built into this opening. It also 
serves to kindle the kiln, and is closed by an iron 
door. The car (fig. 1) should be made of wood, 
and lined with sheet-iron ; it is hinged to the front 
axle, and is hooked to the draft-rope so that when 
the fore-wheels strike the block, E , at the mouth of 
the kiln, the ear tips and dumps its load. The iron 
door, F, which closes the kiln, is raised or lowered 
by means of the rope and ring, O , which passes 
over a pulley fixed upon the side of the flue. A 
covered shed will be needed to protect the top of 
tlie stack, and a gallery should be made around it, 
for a passage-way for the workmen. This kind of 
kiln is suited only for the use of coal as fuel; when 
wood is used, common pits or temporary kilns like 
those shown at a, a, September, 1871, are to be used. 
Fall Fallowing. 
The old practice of summer fallowing, or work¬ 
ing the soil for one year without a crop, for the 
purpose of gaining a double crop the second sea- 
j sou, is now, very properly, obsolete. While some 
may question the propriety of this opinion, there 
can be no doubt as to the value of fall fallowing. 
The constant turning and working of the ground 
during the fall months cost nothing but time and 
labor, at a season when these can not be otherwise 
employed, and so, in reality, cost nothing. But the 
i benefits to the soil are very considerable. Espe- 
| cially is this the case with heavy clay soils, aud 
I less, in a descending ratio, through the gradations 
from heavy clay down to Jight loams—at least it is 
! so considered by many; and it is reasonable to sup¬ 
pose that if the atmospheric effects upon the par¬ 
ticles of a clay soil serve, to some extent, to dis¬ 
solve the mineral particles, they may easily do the 
same service for a sandy soil, and help to set loose 
some of the potash contained in the granitic or 
feldspathic particles of such a soil. The mechan¬ 
ical effects of the fall working are certainly more 
useful upon clay than a light loam ; but there arc 
other purposes to serve than merely to disintegrate 
the soil, and mellow and loosen it. There are 
weeds to destroy, and the forwarding of the spring 
work by the preparation of the ground for early 
sowing. These services are as useful for a light 
soil as a heavy one. and as it is reasonable to look 
for some advantage from the working in the way 
of gain in fertility on light as well as heavy soils, it j 
is advisable that owners of either kind should avail j 
themselves of whatever benefits the practice af¬ 
fords. Fall fallowing consists in plowing aud 
working the soil with the cultivator or the harrow. 
This may be done at such intervals as may be con¬ 
venient, or whicli will help to start some weeds 
into growth, when these may be destroyed by the 
harrow or cultivator. Heavy soils should be left 
in rough ridges at the last plowing, with as deep 
furrows between them as possible, in order to ex¬ 
pose the largest surface to tlie effects of frost and 
thaw. Light soils may be left in a less rough con¬ 
dition, but the last plowing should he so done as 
to throw the furrows on edge, and not flat, leaving 
the field somewhat ridged. A very little work in 
the spring will put the ground into excellent order 
for the early crops, and for spring wheat, espe¬ 
cially, this better condition of the soil will be of 
the greatest benefit. When thus treated in the 
fall, the soil is remarkably mellow, and is dry 
enough to work much earlier than the compact 
stubble iand which remains as it was left after tho 
harvest. As to the time for doing this work, the 
Fig. 1. —BUILDING WITH ROLLERS IN POSITION. 
sooner it is begun, and the oftener it is repeated, the 
better. It is not too late to finish when the ground 
is frozen, or there is an inch of snow ou the ground. 
Cheap Method of Moving 1 Buildings. 
By L. D. Snook, Yates Co., N. Y. 
Farm buildings are frequently built witli little or 
no relation to each other, and for greater con¬ 
venience and usefulness, it is afterwards fouud 
desirable to move them a short distance. This is 
usually done by means of tackles, trucks, and other 
apparatus, for which those who make a business of 
such work charge from $8 to 810 per day, when ac¬ 
companied by a foreman. In very many cases this 
expense can be avoided by the use of the simple 
apparatus shown in the accompanying engravings. 
The rollers are seen in position in figure 1, from 
which the whole method will be understood. 
The building is raised sufficiently to place the 
timbers, A, A, under it, which incline in the direction 
the building is to be moved. The rollers, B, B , are 
placed as shown in figure 2, and should be of hard 
wood, with bark removed, about three and a half 
feet long and from six to ten inches in diameter. 
Holes one and a half inch in diameter are 
bored through the rollers near one end, in which 
the loose lever, E, is used. One of these rollers, 
with a lever in place, is seen in figure 2. If the build¬ 
ing be a heavy one, a man should be stationed at 
each lever, and move the levers in concert. When 
it is desired to move the building at an angle, it is 
necessary to place the roller facing the direction 
desired. Should the sills of the building be found 
decayed, place a plank between them and top of 
the rollers. This plan of moving does not dislocate 
and strain a building half so much as when pulled 
by ropes and tackles, an important consideration, 
especially if the building is old or not over strong. 
Black I>eg in Calves.— This dicease, which is 
so prevalent in spring and fall, and is so sudden in 
its attacks that it is nearly always fatal, affects oudy 
those calves which arc well fed and in good condi¬ 
tion. When the young animals are to all appear¬ 
ance thriving, the owner is apt to be satisfied and 
thinks all is well with them ; but in reality it is then 
that watchfulness should beex.rcised, or at least 
