. . -y IST* SI* W.WI Kf Bj 
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Researches on the Action of Lime as a Manure, with 
Special Regard to Paddy Fields, 
CARRIED OUT IN CONJUNCTION WITH 
H. Sakano, D. Sato, and S. Shinjo, 
BY 
Dr. O. Kellner. 
In many districts of Japan large quantities of lime, up to 300 
kuwamme per tan} have been annually applied to rice in the 
paddy fields, and continue to be resorted to, in spite of conspicu¬ 
ous injury which is caused by this habit, and affects both soils 
and crops. Owing to the entrance of lime into the constitution 
of silicates and the presence of abundant moisture, the mineral 
particles of the soil are liable to be cemented together, either a 
few feet below the surface, as I had occasion to observe in the 
Miye prefecture near Yokkaichi, or on the surface itself, as 
M. Fesca 1 2 reports from the prefecture of Chiba. Not only is 
the treatment and cultivation of the soil rendered difficult by 
this action of lime, but stagnation of water may follow as it is 
prevented from draining into the deeper layers. At the same 
time potash and ammonia are liberated by lime and are liable 
to be washed away by the irrigating water, whence the soil 
gradually impoverishes so much that in order to supply these 
essential nutrients to the rice crop, the Japanese farmer again 
decomposes in the subsequent season insoluble ingredients of 
the soil by repeating every year the dressing with lime, which 
he is even compelled sometimes to increase. He is quite aware 
of the fact that the same kind and quantity of manure which 
1 i tan = 0.0992 hektar ; 1 kuwamme = 3.7565 kilogrms. 
2 Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Japanischen Landwirtschaft. 1 . Theil, 
1890 , p. 275 . 
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