THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
paon’t care about it; marketmen have a'de¬ 
cided prejudice against such potatoes, es¬ 
pecially in the case of early ones. The Early 
Rose and other pink-skinned potatoes always 
sell best; but late in the year, when potatoes 
are plentiful from all quarters, the objection 
to white-skinned potatoes is not so marked. 
f arm (topics. 
LIME 
AS A “SOIL IMPROVER.” 
How Does It Set Plant Food Free? 
A POPULAR FANCY. 
Folly To Use It Alone. 
DOES IT MAKE THE FATHER 
RICH ? 
DOES THE SON GROW POOR? 
FROM T. H. HOSKINS, M. D. 
The Rural refers to me, for reply, the 
following request from an Illinois subscriber: 
“/ would like to hear from, those who have 
had experience in the use of lime for the 
purpose of increasing fertility. What 
quantity per acre? Slaked or unslaked? It 
seems to me that this black prairie soil has 
abundance of fertility , but that it needs to 
be set free.' 1 ' 1 
It has become a pretty well established fact 
that lime is not a necessary substance to 
apply to the land for the purpose of directly 
nourishing the crop. Few, if any agricul¬ 
tural lands lack lime enough to feed a long 
succession of crops; while not only chemical 
fertilizers, but stable-manures contain much 
more than the necessary quantity of lime, in 
proportion to their other components. We 
must look, therefore, in some other direction 
for an explanation of the well-known practi¬ 
cal fact that lime is a great amelioration to 
some, yet not to all soils. Through the older 
parts of New England, no benefit seems to be 
derived from it, with the smgle exception 
that it often proves of great benefit “to liv n 
up the soil” of old, over-manured gardens, 
which has become “sour,” and is in any way 
out of condition, and which is the habitation 
of vast numbers of injurious insects, worms, 
snails, etc. But it is not to be supposed that, 
because this is the experience of the farmers 
of the older settled parts of New England, 
lime may not eventually be useful on much 
New England soil, especially in the rich 
valleys away from the coast. I believe that 
in the Champlain Valley lime is sometimes 
found a very useful application. 
On the black prairie soil of the middle West, 
which has had its virgin productiveness skim¬ 
med out in a long succession of grain crops, 
there is a good chance that liming may be of 
some temporary advantage,though this can be, 
and has been, carried to excess on similar soils 
—such jverlimed soils losing the cohesion 
necessary to afford support to the roots of 
crops, and to retain moisture. Liming has 
had the most marked success in America, on 
the long-farmed lands of Eastern Maryland 
and Virginia, and lime, in connection with 
green sand-marl, which is rich in potash, has 
been of great benefit to that region. Yet it 
is only as a temporary and auxiliary prac¬ 
tice, in connection with other processes of re¬ 
newal, that such treatment is found satis¬ 
factory over a long series of years. 
Unquestionably, one chief effect of lime is 
upon the physical condition of soils, and this 
effect may be beneficial or injurious on the 
same soil at different times, as well as upon 
different soils. It has some chemical effects of 
benefit under peculiar conditions, such as in 
the over-dunged gardens above referred to, 
and also upon land injured by the presence of 
a large quantity of sulphuret of iron. What 
t is, exactly, that lime does to a soil, where it 
benefits it, has been difficult to determine, 
and undoubtedly the best exposition of the 
present state of our knowledge upon the sub¬ 
ject is to be found in Professor F. H. Storer’s 
“Agriculture,” Vol. 2, p. 139, et seq. I cannot 
undertake to give, with any considerable full¬ 
ness, what is there stated; but it may be said, 
briefly, that lime increases the porosity of a 
too compact soil,thus permitting theelevation 
of nutritive matters from the subsoil by capil¬ 
lary attraction, as well as furnishing minute 
passages for the fine roots downward. Lime 
has also a tendency to cause the finest parti- 
cles of fine soils to unite with coarser granules, 
in this way greatly improving the texture of 
clays, and of fine loams, such as would natur¬ 
ally be too muddy and cohesive. This is the 
character of much prairie soil, especially of 
the magnesian wheat lands of Illinois, which 
tend to become puddled by cultivation, and 
thus impervious to water, either in its down¬ 
ward course in wet weather, or its upward 
course when the season is dry. These very fine 
soils are extremely difficult to manage, espec¬ 
ially after they have been long under tillage, 
on account of this tendency to become pud¬ 
dled. The use of lime to cure this condition 
is an important one. 
Lime is believed to have a direct chemical 
when as much as 250 bushels have been used 
with profit. 
Subsequently, lighter dressings, at inter¬ 
vals of seven to 12 years, may be used; 
but the apparent ben°flt lessens, and 
will finally cease, unless the land is faith¬ 
fully and intelligently managed otherwise. 
It is utter folly to depend upon lime, because 
it has had a wonderfully good effect at the 
first application. The common practice is to 
draw out the fresh lime, as it comes from the 
kiln, and distribute it in little piles of a 
bushel or less, evenly over the field. A little 
depression is made in the soil to receive it, 
and the pile is then covered lightly with 
earth and left until it has fallen to a powdered 
condition, when it is distributed upon the 
surface as evenly as possible, and worked into 
the soil. 
In some parts of the country, w r here stone 
lime is not to be found, there are often de¬ 
posits of calcareous marl, which may be 
made to answer a good purpose; and along 
the sea-shore marine shells make excellent 
agricultural lime, when burned. Leached 
ashes act in much the same way, besides sup¬ 
plying considerable plant food. It should be 
added that it is vain to apply lime to land 
with the hope of profit, unless the land is 
THE ROSE FRANCOIS MICHELON. 
After the London Garden. Figr. 7. See Page 33. 
effect upon the soil, by uniting with the hy¬ 
drous silicates, so as to expel from them 
potash, ammonia, or magnesia, for the use of 
crops. But for this purpose the sulphate of 
lime (land plaster) is more effective than 
quicklime. I have already referred to the ac¬ 
tion of quicklime in hastening the decompo¬ 
sition of humus. In doing this, which is 
called by practical gardeners “sweetening the 
soil,” the lime releases much inert nitrogen, 
and makes it available for tie nutrition of 
crops. Recently drained bogs or “muck 
beds,” are thus greatly benefited by a free 
dressing of lime, which hastens the putrefac¬ 
tive process, quickly converting the cold 
muck into a warm and productive seed-bed 
for crops. But still another action takes 
place in soils rich in vegetable matter, under 
right conditions of temperature, moisture and 
aeration, whereby an application of quick¬ 
lime may greatly favor the formation of 
nitrates. The nitrifying ferment “ prospers 
exceedingly ” in presence of a sufficient quan¬ 
tity of carbonate of lime, and, indeed, will 
hardly do good work without it. 
As to the quantity of lime to apply, it has 
been reckoned that about 150 bushels per 
acre is as much as is necessary for a first 
application, except upon very cold clays, 
naturally good. A barren so’l can never be 
helped by liming. 
Orleans Co., Vt. 
FROM PROF. J. W. SANBORN. 
I have used lime on a soil not as rich as de¬ 
scribed by your Illinois correspondent, and 
observed something of its effect. I have 
avoided its use, except in an experimental 
way, save a considerable quantity used on a 
granite soil. In the latter case, it was used as 
a top-dressing for grass without satisfactory 
results. I have avoided lime for the reason 
that I have never been willing to farm at the 
expense of old age or of the next generation. 
Lime acts as a soil disintegrator, and does 
not add fertility, as your subscriber implies, 
except in very rare soils. Anything that acts 
as an agent of soil decomposition,and which in 
this way makes available as plant food mat¬ 
ters already in the soil is desirable, especially 
if stock on the farm are fed on the resulting 
products, and the manure is returned to the 
soil. If the crop is sold from the farm, then 
soil impoverishment is only hastened. This 
process of liming may temporarily pay, but it 
is at the expense of the future, while we pay 
for the agent that does this permanent mischief. 
I have preferred to pay more to secure a fer¬ 
tilizer that acts both chemically on the soil 
and as a direct source of plant food. I would 
not be understood as saying that in the hands 
of a prudent man lime is not a useful and 
profitable agent in securing an increase of 
crops; but that it is dangerous when used by a 
farmer who uses it uuder the belief that it 
adds just so much fertility to the soil. The 
one will feed the crops raised to his stock as 
well as use the lime in moderate amounts; 
the other will sell his crops in this part of the 
country uuder the short-lived delusion that 
liming is sure to furnish continuous crops. 
The black prairie soil is one rich in vege¬ 
table matter and most likely to respond safely 
to the use of lime, provided it is used in 
moderate quantities. Its excessive use would 
result in too free liberation of nitrogen from 
its insoluble compounds, and its consequent 
loss, either by leaching or volatilization. 
Any tendency to acidity in sucb soils, which 
is liable to exist where they are undrained 
and rest on impervious subsoils, would be cor¬ 
rected. From 100 bushels to much larger 
amounts of lime have been used in the past, 
but now that its character is better kuown, it 
is used more sparingly, or from 100 bushels 
downward. Where it is used to correct the 
physical character of the soil through its 
action on clays, both mechanically and 
chemically, large amounts are needed, in a 
relative sense. On the soils described by the 
Illinois inquirer, I would use only moderate 
amounts, but I would make such applications 
more frequently than has been common. I 
used 300 pounds per acre and increased the 
crop nearly 100 per cent, as an average of two 
years’ trial. The third year, 1888, the differ¬ 
ence was in favor of the lime, but there was 
not so heavy a gain. The year was too good 
a corn year to show great differences. The 
lime was used in an air-slaked condition. 
It should be allowed to slake in order to have 
a flue material for distribution. A larger 
quantity than was used by me, may be used 
yearly with safety, and it is better not to use 
large quantities at longer intervals. It is bet¬ 
ter to use small amounts every year rather 
than get a severe action of it on the vegetable 
matter faster than crops can utilize the 
product. 
Columbia, Mo. 
FROM F.. DAVENPORT. 
One can scarcely ask a man a tougher 
question than whether or not to use lime iu 
the soil of a particular locality, and the only 
answer I am willing to give, is “Try it on a 
small scale and see.” I am aware that this is 
cold comfort to one who seeks advice; but 
opinions and theories are so varied, soils aud 
climate are so diverse, and, withal, the action 
of lime is so little understood, that it is decid¬ 
edly unsafe to reason from the experience of 
one as to the results with another. 
Many of the effects of lime upon the soil 
are well understood, and a long paper might 
be written upon the subject: but I do not 
suppose that is what the Illinois inquirer 
wants. If I were in his situation, I would 
apply lime ia considerable quantities to a 
small area, and watch the result very care¬ 
fully; and while awaiting development, to 
the end of forming an intelligent opinion, 
1 would study some such works as Storer’s Ag¬ 
riculture, which is well up on the subject, and 
gives the latest facts known. I would use 
marl if near at hand; and if it is not, I 
would use burned lime which should be slaked 
before it is applied. Besides removing half 
the weight, burning is the cheapest way to re¬ 
duce it to a powder. Marl will, as a rule, 
fall down well by the action of the weather. 
It must be borne in mind that lime is in no 
sense a manure. While it is an indespensable 
ingredient of plants, there are few soils that 
do not contain more than is sufficient for this 
purpose. Its action is, to say the least, mainly 
corrective, and it should be applied for this 
purpose and not as plant food; that is, in 
quantities expressed in tons, rather than as a 
fertilizer in pounds. I would try two or three 
tons to the acre, bearing in mind the old 
adage—“Lime enriches the father, but im¬ 
poverishes the son.” 
FROM FRED GRUNDY. 
I never have tried lime on our black soil 
for the purpose of increasing fertility, nor 
can I learn of any person who has. The 
character of the water in shallow wells plain¬ 
ly indicates that there is an abundance of 
lime in the soil; but whether it is near enough 
to the surface to be available as a liberator of 
fertility I am unable to say. Much of our 
black soil is heavy and inclined to be wet, 
and, until it is thoroughly under-drained, the 
immense quantities of plant food it contains 
are not available to any great extent. Under¬ 
draining loosens this heavy soil, rendering it 
porous and friable. Plants send their roots 
deeper and tap the vast stores of fertility in 
the subsoil, and for some years the crops are 
as heavy as when the land was first plowed. 
For four or five years after this prairie soi 
