[Septemuer, 
S22 
AMERICAN ACRICNJETURIST. 
How Lime Is Burned. 
The simplest metliod of preparing lime for 
agricultural uses is by burning it in stacks, very 
much in the same way as charcoal is preiwred. 
(Fig. 1.) The spot selected for the burning is 
Ihc quariy, which should he a soft vaiiety of 
stone cleaving naturally into small fragments 
or being easily broken'. The heap is usuall3'' in 
the form of a parallelogram, about a rod wide, 
Fig. 1.— STACK OF LIME BURNING. 
and of any desirable length. The first thing is 
a ground-work of wood about eighteen inches 
in thickness, of the size of the proposed stack. 
The wood may be old stumps or any coarse 
material, and the diyeritis'the better. The Avood 
is surrounded Avith a la^^er of earth and sods, 
leaving holes about fifteen inches square, at in¬ 
tervals of five or six feet, for firing the wood, 
and for regulating the combustion. These ven¬ 
tilators should run back into the mass of Aimod 
several feet, and be filled Avilh dry kindling 
AVood at the time of firing the heap. Upon this 
foundation of Avood, a layer of the broken stone 
is placed, about six inches thick, then a layer, 
tAvo inches thick, of fine anthracite coal, called 
culm in the coal districts. This is Avhat is 
screened out in preparing the merchantable coal 
for market. It can generally be had for the 
cost of carting or freight at the shafts, Avhcre it 
often accumulates in large quantities. It adds 
very much to the heat of the fires, and reduces 
the expense of burning. The heap is then car¬ 
ried up six or eight feet high Avith alternate lay¬ 
ers of culm and limestone, the stone layers in¬ 
creasing a little in thickness toward the top. 
The Avholc mass is covered Avith a layer of dirt 
at the sides, and at the top as soon as the heap is 
Avell ignited. A heap containing scAmral thou¬ 
sand bushels Avill burn doAvn in about six days. 
It ^is calculated that one ton of the coal Avlll 
burn about 150 bushels of lime. Any one Avho 
has skill enough to burn a coal pit, can prepare 
lime by this method. It is principally of use 
Avhere the limestone is in small fragments or 
easily broken. Of course, good coal and Avood 
can be substituted for the refuse anthracite, if 
that is not to be had. Under fiiAmrable cir¬ 
cumstances for obtaining fuel, lime is burnt 
in this Avay for one or two cents a bushel. 
The harder Auirieties of limestone require a 
kiln for burning them. This is usually placed 
Fig; S.—LIAIE-KILN. 
upon a side hill for convenience in delivering 
the stone and fuel for charging. (Pig. 2.) A com 
venient size for a larmer’s use Avould be about 
tAvelve feet across at the top, sixteen at the bot¬ 
tom, and eighteen feet high. The outer Avails 
should be laid in masonry, and the Avails of the 
inner chamber that 
holds the charge, 
(Fig. 3.,) should be 
lined Avith fire brick, 
or Avilh some re¬ 
fractory or infusible 
stone. The cham¬ 
ber is nearly in the 
shape of an egg, the 
small end doAvn- 
Avard, about three 
feet across at the 
bottom, seven at the 
top, and sixteen feet 
deep. There is a 
flue at the bottom, 
tAVO feet or more square, and extending com- 
pletel}^ under the chamber, for the purpose of 
giving draft for the fire, and it also serves for 
discharging the lime Avhen it is sufiiciently 
burned. The small holes above the flue, in fig¬ 
ures 2 and 8, are for the purpose of thrusting in 
an iron rod, AAdien needed to hold up the mass 
of stone and fuel Avithin. In charging such a 
kiln as this, about a cord of diy^ Avood Avould be 
placed upon the bottom, and on top of this 
three or four bushels of refuse anthracite, then 
a layer of the broken stone about one foot in 
thickness. Three inches of coal avouUI be placed 
upon this, and so on until the chamber Avas 
filled, the layers of stone increasing in thickness 
tOAvard the top. The burnt lime would be draAvn 
Fisr. 3.—SECTION OF KILN. 
Fig. 4.— KILN FOB OYSTER SHELLS. 
out at the bottom tAA'^ice a dajq about thirty-five 
bushels at each draAving, and fresh lajmrs of 
coal and lime added on top. Such a kiln can be 
kept going for months until any desired quan¬ 
tity of lime is burned. It is calculated that by 
this method a ton of coal will burn a hundred 
bushels of lime. The culm is carried on the 
railroads considerable distances, and deliAmred 
at the depot for j ust the cost of freight. At tAvo 
dollars a ton at the kiln, it is probably cheaper 
than Avood cut upon the premises. The cost of 
the lime to the producer Avould not be, under 
favorable circumstances, more than four or five 
cents a bushel. This very cheap lime is one of 
the secrets of its almost universal use in Penn¬ 
sylvania and Avestern New Jersey. Of course, 
Avhere fuel costs more, lime Avill be dearer; but 
wo think Avherever lime rock and Avood are 
plenty, lime can be economically made and ap¬ 
plied to the soil. The experiment certainly 
ought to be tried ’over a much Avidcr region. 
Figure 4 shoAvs the process of preparing oyster 
shell lime in Qur cities and villages. The 
refuse of coal yards, hoav so often used for road 
making or grading, might be applied to burn¬ 
ing oyster shells Avith great economy. This 
lime is usually considered better for agricultu¬ 
ral purposes than that prepared from stone, 
Willow Stakes for Pences on Bottom Land, 
BY IIOOSIEU. 
Spring freshets and floods prove very destruc¬ 
tive to farmers living along Avater courses, by 
AAmshing aivay fences. Stakes Avithout roots 
Avill decay, and wash out, letting the rails take a 
free ride on the SAvift and turbid Avaters. Almost 
every farmer knoAVS Avhat a disagreeable task 
it is to reset fences, and it is particular!}" so after 
freshets, AA'hen the rails are all coated over Avith 
mud and slime. To make rail fences compar¬ 
atively permanent, you must have self-support¬ 
ing stakes, that is, stakes' that Avill firmly sup¬ 
port themselves, and also the weight of the 
fence and AA"aters. To make a stake self-sup¬ 
porting, it must have roots to enable it to retain 
a firm hold of the earth. The avIHoaa", Avhite, 
or yellow, is for this purpose about as near 
being “the right thing in the right place,” as 
any tree we can find. It groAvs without trouble, 
and is a natural denizen of Avet, marshy grounds; 
therefore it is Avell adapted for stakes through bot¬ 
tom lands. The stakes may be cut from three 
to ten feet in length, and from three inches to 
a foot in diameter. They may be set in 
holes made with a post auger, about two feet 
deep, firmly ramming the earth around them; 
or they may be pointed, and driven into the 
ground. In one season they Avill be Avell rooted, 
thrifty trees, Avell able to resist, and hold the fence 
against, the impetuosity of the rushing water. 
The willoAV groAvs easily from cuttings, and 
AA’hen properly pruned, makes a beautiful tree. 
From its rapid groAvth it is rendered valuable 
as a shade tree for pasture lands. It groAvs al¬ 
most as Avell on the hill top as in the A"alley, 
unless the former be A"ery dry or rocky. 
Perhaps a AvilloAv hedge through bottom 
lands Avould be better than staking rail fences. 
The only trouble Avould be the closeness of the 
hedge, making too much “back-Avater,” but that 
might be obviated. As to the size of the cut¬ 
tings it may be said that they will groAV from a 
small tAA’ig to a limo as large as a man’s body. 
Keep stock from broAVsing them for the first year 
or tAvo, and after that there will be no trouble. 
[The cuts represent tAvo light fences made al¬ 
together of willoAY. In fig. 1, the posts are two 
Fig. 2.— WILLOW FENCE AVITH RIDGE. 
stakes ...driven perpendicularly, and bound with 
.■lAdthes which form the support of the rails. 
It- is best to nail besides. Fig. 2 shoAVsa fence 
made by turning four fiuTOAVs together on the 
