lOO 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
and of Virginia and Mississippi, have re¬ 
sponded well tO’ the use of lime, then there 
seems good reason to believe that the 
same will be true of Florida soils. De¬ 
tached instances might be given showing 
the value of lime on Florida soils. I have 
noted Bermuda grass growing luxuriantly 
where a mortar* bed had formerly been 
located, and where plaster had been 
thrown out and ashes scattered, when 
only a few feet away where the soil had 
not been thus treated, it was difficult to get 
the grass to grow. As already noted, the 
celery growers of Sanford are using large 
quantities of lime and say they cannot pro¬ 
duce crops without it. Perhaps almost 
every one has noted the more luxuriant 
growth of vegetation on spots where piles 
of logs and brush have been burnt, and 
while this is perhaps due in part to the 
potash contained in the organic matter, it 
is no doubt due also to the fact that the 
lime in the ashes has neutralized the acid¬ 
ity of the soil. 
LIME SOMETIMES INJURIOUS. 
Excessive amounts of lime may have 
an injurious effect on almost any crop, 
while any excess of lime whatever seems 
injurious to a few plants. Under some 
conditions, too, lime seems to favor the 
production of the potato scab. For these 
reasons it is important that judgment be 
used in the application of lime to the soil. 
If lime is used directly with sulphate of 
ammonia, ammonia gas will be set free 
and lost. It may, however, be used direct¬ 
ly with nitrate of soda and organic fer¬ 
tilizers. 
FORMS OF LIME TO USE. 
Where the neutralization of acidity is 
the only object tO' be sought, caustic or 
quick lime will probably be more economi¬ 
cal, since fewer pounds are i“fequired. 
However, quick lime, slaked or hydrated 
lime, and air slaked lime, or carbonate of 
lime, are probably equally effective pound 
for pound of actual lime. 
Marl is a form of carbonate of lime 
and contains from 5 tO' 95 pounds of car¬ 
bonate of lime per hundred pounds of the 
material. A good quality of marl would 
prove quite effective in correcting soil 
acidity, its effectiveness depending on the 
fineness of the material. 
Phosphate of lime, that is phosphate 
rock, when finely gTOund has also been 
found effective on acid soils. This is 
valuable not only on account of its neu¬ 
tralizing effects on acid, but also on ac¬ 
count of the phosphoric acid which it con¬ 
tains, the phosphoric acid gradually be¬ 
coming available after having been in the 
soil for some time. 
THE LITMUS TEST. 
This must be made with considerable 
care, else erroneous results may be se¬ 
cured. The following method if careful¬ 
ly carried out will give satisfactory results. 
Having secured from a drug store 
strips of both blue and red litmus paper, 
take one or two ounces of the soil to be 
tested, moisten in a clean glass or cup 
with pure water (water that will change 
the color of either paper must not be 
used), bringing* the mass to about the 
consistency of thick paste. After allow¬ 
ing this to stand about fifteen minutes, 
part the soil in two places with a clean 
knife blade and insert a strip of each 
kind of paper, carefully pressing the soil 
against the paper with the point of the 
knife. Allow to stand for about five min¬ 
utes then remove and wash off adhering 
particles of soil with the pure water. If 
the blue paper has become red, or shows 
