58 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
meat, bone, tankage, plants, cover crops, 
dead roots, etc., into nitrates, the form in 
which it is chiefly and most readily assim¬ 
ilated by most cultivated plants. This pro¬ 
cess of nitrification requires the presence 
of lime in the soils. 
(2) In the process of decomposition of 
organic matter in muck and other soils the 
production of carbonic acid is much accel¬ 
erated by the presence of lime. This car¬ 
bonic acid then so acts upon the inert plant 
food of the soil as to make more potash 
and phosphoric acid available than would 
otherwise be possible. 
(3) The association of certain bacteria 
with the roots of legumes is aided by the 
presence of lime and a slightly alkaline 
soil solution, by which the fixation of at¬ 
mospheric nitrogen and consequent en¬ 
richment of the soil is facilitated. 
Lime, however, with all its benefits and 
desirable features, is not to be considered 
as a fertilizer. Continued success with 
lime can only be assured by the use of 
other essential manurial substances in con¬ 
nection with it to furnish needed nitrogen, 
phosphoric acid and potash, and by the 
adoption of a method of cultivation which 
shall maintain a goodly supply of humus 
in the soil. 
There has been much debate as to the 
kind of lime to use. The farmer should 
inquire into: (1) the amount of actual 
free or basic lime in the material; (2) the 
fineness of the material; and (3) the pres¬ 
ence of injurious compounds. 
The forms available are, quick lime, hy¬ 
drated lime, ground limestone, ashes and 
basic slag. 
Results of Rhode Island experiments 
show, especially in cases where lime is 
greatly needed, that slaked lime insured a 
more complete and vigorous stand of 
plants at the outset. But at Sanford the 
experience seems to be that ashes give bet¬ 
ter results on virgin land cropped for the 
first time than does either ground lime¬ 
stone or air slaked lime. 
On light sandy soils inclined to be dry, 
carbonate of lime is the least likely to 
cause immediate injury to the crop. On 
most of our Florida soil it is advisable to 
use ground limestone or ashes, and the 
item of expense throws the balance of the 
favor to the limestone, as the ashes carry 
only about 35 per cent carbonate of lime, 
while the limestone carries 95 per cent and 
costs about one-fifth as much. Basic slag 
is even less economical than ashes in price 
and contains only a small amount of free 
basic lime and would require the use of 
supplementary applications of lime. The 
matter, therefore, resolves itself into the 
question of the form in which the largest 
amount of lime in the finest state of di¬ 
vision can be gotten on the soil for the 
least money. 
But to summarize the usual claims for 
the two materials: I. Raw ground lime¬ 
stone as against, II. Burnt or caustic 
limes. 
(1) Lime carbonate, including ground 
limestone and ashes, is the natural form 
of lime, and therefore best for the soil. 
(2) It is easy to handle, having no 
offensive properties. 
(3) It may be stored. 
(4) It does not burn out the organic 
matter. 
(5) It simply needs to be used in chem¬ 
ical equivalents to caustic limes. 
