84 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Temporary kilns admit of the burning of a great quantity of lime; 
but the permanent kilns burn it with most economy of fuel. In the 
first, 5 quintals of wood burn 4 quintals, or one ton, or 2\ hectolitres of 
lime—and in the others, the same quantity of wood will suffice for 6 
quintals, or 3i hectolitres. But in the permanent kilns such is the ex¬ 
pense of construction and repairs, that they cannot be justified except 
when kept in frequent use. Coal burns from three to four times its 
bulk of lime—the shape of the kiln, the kind of limestone, and that of 
the coal, making the difference. Hydraulic lime is calcined more easily 
than the common [chaux grasses.'] Egg-shaped kilns, for coal, seems 
to be preferable to the conical, which are more generally met with. 
PRECAUTIONS TO BE USED IN LIMING. 
20. Whatever may be the method adopted for using lime, it is essen¬ 
tial that, like all calcareous manures, it should be applied in powder, 
and not in a state like mortar—and upon the earth when not wet. Un¬ 
til the lime is covered up finally, all rain upon it ought to be avoided, 
which reduces it to paste or to clots: and this injures its effect greatly, 
and even more than reasoning can explain. It ought not to be placed 
except upon soil, the surface mould of which drains itself naturally [by 
permitting the water to pass through.] On a marshy soil, unless the 
upper layer has been well dried, or in a very moist soil, from which 
the surface water does not sink or pass off easily, the properties of lime 
remain as it were locked up, and do not make themselves seen, until, 
by new operations, the vegetable mould has been drained and put in 
healthy condition. 
On an argillaceous and very moist soil, the use of marl, which is ap¬ 
plied in great quantities, is preferable to that of lime, because it can 
have a more powerful effect in giving the deficient health to the sur¬ 
face mould. On soil of this kind, a deep ploughing is a preliminary con¬ 
dition, essential to the success of either liming or marling: because in 
increasing the depth of the tilled soil, we increase also the means of 
putting the surface into healthy condition. 
21. To secure the effect of lime on the first crop, it ought to be mixed 
with the soil some time before the sowing of the crop: however if it 
is used in compost, it is sufficient that the compost be made a long 
time previously. 
Lime, whether alone or in compost, spread dry upon the soil, ought 
to be covered by a very shallow first ploughing, preceded by a slight 
harrowing, in order that the lime, in the course of tillage, may remain 
always, as much as possible, placed in the midst of the vegetable mould. 
Lime, reduced to the smallest particles, tends to sink into the soil. 
It glides between small particles of sand and of clay, and descends be¬ 
low the sphere of the nutrition of plants, and stops under the ploughed 
layer of soil: and when there in abundance, it forms by its combina¬ 
tions a kind of floor, which arrests the sinking water, and greatly in¬ 
jures the crops. This is an inconvenience of lime applied in heavy 
doses, and is hastened by deep ploughing. 
VARIOUS QUALITIES OF LIME. 
22. It is necessary for the farmer to know the nature of the lime 
which he uses. It may be pure, or mixed with silex, clay, or magnesiajj 
Pure lime is the most economical, the most active, that which can pro¬ 
duce the most effect in the least quantity. 
Silicious limestone is used in great quantity. The lime from it re¬ 
ceives, as does the foregoing, the name of hot lime, and there is little 
difference in the application, except that more of the latter is wanting. 
Argillaceous lime is the same as the hydraulic lime, or the poor lime 
of builders. It appears that the first two kinds are more favorable to 
forming grain, while the latter favors more the growth of straw, grasses, 
and leguminous crops. It is better for the improvement of the soil, but 
a heavier dose of it is required. 
Magnesian lime acts very powerfully, but exhausts the soil if given 
in a large dose, or if it is not followed by alimentary manure in abun¬ 
dance. It has exhausted some districts in England, and entire pro¬ 
vinces of America,* and it is to this kind that seem due most of the 
complaints against lime. 
By chemical processes the farmer may make himself sure of the na¬ 
ture of the lime which he uses. 
Pure lime is commonly white, and is dissolved, without any thing 
being left, in nitric or muriatic acid. 
Silicious lime is often gray, and leaves a sandy residue [after solu¬ 
tion,] which is rough to the touch. 
Argillaceous lime is obtained from stones which have a clayey odor 
and appearance: it is commonly yellow; and leaves, after the solution, 
a residue which is mostly an impalpable powder [et qui prend en masse,] 
which may be formed into a mass when wet. 
Magnesian lime is made from stone commonly coloured brown or 
* The author has been deceived by exaggerated accounts of injury from 
liming in America. It is probable that wherever it occurred, it was caused by 
the usual ignorance of the action of lime: from erroneously considering it as 
alimentary, and directly fertilizing manure, and after applying it, wearing out 
the soil by continued grain crops. Such effects are spoken of by Bordley.— Tr. 
pale yellow; it forms a white cloud in nitric acid, diluted with water) 
and used in less quantity than sufficient for saturation. 
OF SECOND LIMINGS. 
23. When the lime field returns to the state in which it was before 
the operation, when the same weeds re-appear, and the crops lower in 
product, it is time to renew the application of lime. It may be con¬ 
ceived that the time of the second liming depends on the amount given 
in the first. When the dressing has been light, it is necessary, as is 
done by the Flemings, and the Manceaux, to recommence entirely, or 
to the extent of the first dressing: when it has been heavy, the next 
may be diminished by one-half. Besides, in this matter we should take 
counsel of the state of the soil and of experience, because there are 
some lands which demand, and can use heavier doses of lime than 
others. 
PICKING, OAST AGE, AND BAGGING OF HOPS, 
Are the operations which close the culture of the hop, which begins 
“to bell,” or show the seed-vessel, some time in August; and if the 
weather prove favorable, it will be ripe by the end of the month, or the 
beginning of September. When the seed begins to change from a pale 
straw-colour to a light brown, to emit a fragrant smell, to feel firm, and 
to be easily rubbed to pieces, they are signs which indicate its having 
arrived at maturity, and being ready to be gathered. 
As a preparation for the gathering of the hops, strong frames of 
wood, called “bins,” or “cribs,” about nine feet long and four feet 
wide, are placed in different parts of the plantation, fixed upon legs 
three feet high ; thus affording room for three or four pickers on each 
side, who, together with the man who collects the poles, are called a 
“ set,” and deposite the hops, when picked, in a coarse cloth, which is 
hooked to the insides of the frame so as to form a large bag in the 
centre. 
The bine is first cut about two or three feet above the ground, much 
lower being considered injurious to the root, by the profuse bleeding 
which it occasions, and the pole is then wrenched from the earth by 
means of what in Kent is called a “ hop-dog.” This instrument is con¬ 
structed of a strong, tapering stick, near three inches in diameter, and 
about five feet long; at the distance of nearly a foot from the larger 
end of which a small bar of iron, of about a foot long, is clenched; 
and being bent in the middle into an acute angle, the inside is roughen¬ 
ed by the smith into something like teeth, which, when fixed upon the 
lower end of the pole, as it were, bite and hold it fast. 
The poles are then laid horizontally across the frames, and two are 
usually given to one set; but smaller frames or baskets are also very 
commonly used, and it is then customary for one woman to engage a 
basket for herself and family. The price of payment varies according 
to the quantity grown, and is often not named until after the picking. 
Upon an average growth the pay is about 10d. the basket of five bush¬ 
els; and a tolerable good picker will earn 2s a day. The number of 
bushels picked by each set being kept by means of the double-tally.* 
The weather deemed most favorable for picking is that which is nei¬ 
ther very sultry nor moist; for if the sun be very hot and scorching, it 
is apt to shrivel and discolour the hops before they can be gathered off 
the poles; and if the morning be dewy, those which are picked in 
a damp state become musty. To prevent injury from the sun, the pole- 
pullers therefore take down no more than the pickers can strip in a 
short time; and if it be necessary to begin the picking before the dew 
is evaporated, the pole is shaken to and fro, in order to throw off as 
much of it as possible. As it always happens that the hops do not ri¬ 
pen at the same time, neither do they all run of one quality upon the 
same bine. The Farnham planters, who are particularly attentive to the 
maintenance of the long and well-established credit of their hops, not 
only set out all those that are fresh ripe for the first gathering, but 
make such distinctions in the appearance of their respective qualities 
as in their judgment seems most proper, so as to assort them into at 
least three different parcels, each according to their separate value. It 
is their practice, therefore, “ to begin at the bottom of the pole, and to 
pick the hops one by one, without bunches, long-tails, or leaves. Those 
that are just at the proper degree of ripeness, and are full and fair in 
their appearance, are first gathered, and put by themselves into the bin- 
cloth: such as are rather inferior in quality, or not exactly taken at 
the proper degree of ripeness, are of the second sort, and are likewise 
put by themselves in a basket. As, however, with the Farnham plant¬ 
ers, hops that are under-ripe are more esteemed than such as are over- 
ripe, the second sort takes in only the greenish hops: such as are 
* This simple device is formed of two thin pieces of wood, which are neatly 
planed and accurately fitted together by means of a shoulder formed on the 
principal part, or tally, which is three inches longer than the inferior part, or 
check: the two, when joined together, making the double-tally, which is ge¬ 
nerally twelve inches long by one and a half square. One of these is apropri- 
nted to each set, who receives the cluck part, the tally remaining with the 
foreman, who, as the baskets are delivered, cuts one notch at the same timo 
upon both by joining them together. 
