1911. 
LIME OR LIMESTONE, WHICH? 
Much is said in all agricultural papers 
of the value of lime in the soil to make 
it productive, to remedy certain condi¬ 
tions and build up the producing ca¬ 
pacity of land and maintain it. I have 
before me several circulars advertising 
lime; some recommend burned limestone, 
some unburned ground limestone. All 
have an array of reasons why their prod¬ 
uct is the best, in fact, the only thing 
in that line you can buy and obtain 
success. Some experts will tell you not 
to expect much result from any un¬ 
burned ground rock; a heap of sand 
is nothing but small particles of rock. 
If you plant in that sand and water 
you must expect very little result. The 
action of a fertilizer is different in dif¬ 
ferent soils; is not the action of lime on 
different soils likewise? One circular 
advocating burned limestone says: “It 
improves the texture of the soil, espe¬ 
cially those of a clayey nature; makes 
it more friable, less liable to bake, lib¬ 
erates potash from its insoluble com¬ 
binations in the soil and helps to unlock 
and liberate it to the uses of the crop 
grown. Don’t use unburned limestone; 
it has very little if any chemical action 
on the soil, neither does it improve the 
texture like burned limestone. It re¬ 
quires two or three times more of the 
crude (or unburned) limestone to get a 
similar effect,” etc. 
Another circular says: “Limestone 
finely ground is the best form to use; it 
is nature’s way of putting into the ground 
what the ground needs. Natural limestone 
soils do not contain burned lime. Ground 
limestone produces in the soil a milder 
and more natural action than the 
burned. The burned lime does the same 
thing, but it is also a powerful soil 
destroyer, attacking and destroying the 
organic matter, thus liberating plant 
food from the soil, resulting in waste 
of valuable humus.” It also tells of a 
series of experiments carried on by the 
Pennsylvania Experiment Station from 
1882 to 1901, whereby it is demonstrated 
that unburned limestone builds up the 
soil, while burned limestone destroys,and 
exhausts the fertility of the soil. The 
same results are reported by the Mary¬ 
land, Ohio and Illinois experiment sta¬ 
tions. 
Now which of these advertisements 
shall we go by? Which is right, or are 
bdth right in a way, and shall each 
farmer experiment with both until he 
finds which is better? In my boyhood 
days, when Peruvian guano first was 
introduced some farmers thought they 
had the real thing, and for a few years 
it would give fine returns,, but all the 
elements promoting growth for a long 
series of years were not there, and these 
fertilizer mixtures with potash, phos¬ 
phoric acid, ground bone, etc., came in 
until a balanced ration was found for 
each crop. Dr. Jenkins of the Con¬ 
necticut Agricultural Station gave an 
address before the Berlin, Conn., Farm¬ 
ers’ Club on the evening of January 7, 
and I enclose the report of his talk taken 
from the “Hartford Times”: In read¬ 
ing it over I do not see limestone men¬ 
tioned or recommended as the thing to 
use; still at the end of the report you 
will note that he speaks of a company 
in Western Connecticut that advertises 
the fine-ground limestone alone. I would 
like to hear from people who have had 
actual experience with both sorts and 
the results. newton osborn. 
Connecticut. 
N.-Y.—The paper by Dr. Jenkins 
was a very good statement of the action 
of lime on the soil, and its need in our 
farming. We understand that limestone 
as it comes from the soil in the first 
place is chiefly a combination of lime 
and carbonic acid. The reason for burn¬ 
ing it is to drive off the carbonic acid 
and leave pure lime, which is known 
variously as lump, caustic or quicklime. 
When this form of lime is left exposed 
to air or water it “Makes;” that is, takes 
THE RURA.I> NEW-YORKER 
up water or carbonic acid. Put this 
slaked or burnt lime in the soil and it 
slowly changes until finally it goes back 
to its original form as limestone—being 
in a fine condition instead of in a lump. 
It is then much like the original lime¬ 
stone which is ground fine instead of 
being burned. The slaked or burned 
lime is finer than the ground limestone, 
has a stronger and more rapid chemical 
action, and contains more actual lime. 
This strong chemical action of the 
burned lime acts to break up or decay 
the vegetable matter in the soil, while 
the ground limestone is slower and 
more gentle in its action: On a light, 
sandy soil which is lacking in vegetable 
matter the ground limestone would 
probably be better. On a very sour soil, 
a stiff, heavy clay or a soil rich in or¬ 
ganic matter, where green crops were 
plowed in, we should use the burned 
lime from choice. The rule would be 
to use twice as much of the ground 
limestone as of the burned lime in order 
to obtain equal results. That is be¬ 
cause the ground limestone contains less 
lime and in a less active form. As be¬ 
tween the two forms, unless you have a 
positive guarantee giving the actual 
amount of lime, it would probably be 
safer to try the burned lime. We shall 
be glad to have farmers give us their 
experience in the actual use of the va¬ 
rious forms of lime. Let everybody re¬ 
member that lime is not used as a fer¬ 
tilizer like nitrate or phosphate or pot¬ 
ash. It may give results for a few 
years if used alone, but sooner or later 
this will leave the soil worse than if 
was to begin with. Use lime for its' 
chemical action on the soil, and use 
manure or fertilizer just as freely as 
if you did not lime. That is the safest 
rule. 
163 
I 
An Absolutely Reliable Roof 
is one of the best investments a farmer can possibly make. The 
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made up many times over in the additional protection to your build- 
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NEPdnseT 
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The United States Government, all the leading railroads, many of the 
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Talk with a man who has used NEpdnseT Paroid Roofing and get the story 
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mgs, and NEPDNSET Water-proof Building Papers for every purpose. 
Write for Book of Plans and Information on Poultry Houses 
Be sure to state just what you are building or repairing 
and give exact dimensions. 
NEPDNSET Dealers everywhere. If you do not know the one in your locality, a 3 k us. 
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I 
An Improved Black Walnut. 
M. A. Z. of Ohio has a seedling of the 
common Black walnut, Juglans nigra, that 
has a solid kernel, judging from his state¬ 
ment that there is no division in the cen¬ 
ter, the kernel coming out in one piece and 
on one side. lie wishes to know if this is 
anything valuable, and if specimens would 
be of interest. There is another variety of 
Black walnut of the same character as the 
one described that originated in Boss 
( ounty, Ohio, and it has been named the 
Peanut and was described and illustrated 
in a report of the United States Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture several years ago. Is 
is not large, hut the flavor is very good 
and the kernel comes out in one almost 
round piece. The* .variety lias been propa¬ 
gated by grafting and the trees are grow¬ 
ing in several States, some as far west 
as i alifornia. I have trees planted in 
Louisiana. This new variety mav he a 
very good one, and samples should'he sent 
to the pomologist of the Department of 
Agriculture at Washington. Boxes and 
baskets for mailing them will be sent with- 
out cost on application. A full history 
of the original tree and other particulars 
should accompany the specimens. 
H. E. VAX DE5IAX. 
Yours FREE 30 Days 
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as City, Mo., St- Paul, Minn.; Seattle, Wash. 
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I Guarantee 
every wheel and part of the run¬ 
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A grade Straight Grained Split 
Hickory the same grade exactly 
^asthisspoke which I send un¬ 
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the material used 
with every 
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ship. 
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you ought to know about the Buggy you’re going to buy than 
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Split Hickory 
Confidence 
$25 
to $75 
Saved—Or No Sale 
of over 140,000 farmers 
Think of it Phelps has their confidence—over 140,000 satisfied purchasers are driving 
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H. C. PHELPS. President .. 
Lhe Ohio Carriage Mfg. Co., Station 290, Columbus, Ohio V - 
Largest Factory in the World Selling Direct to Consumer 
—according to style 
of Vehicle you Buy. 
