New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 49 
limed. On the other hand 27 of the adjoining plats to which 
lime had been applied produced successful crops. In these 64 
experiments the application of lime alone increased the number 
of successful fields by 25 per ct. and all of the fields which were 
a success without lime were improved by its application. 
In no case did these observations show any detrimental 
effects from the lime which was used. However, it should be 
remembered that in this work the amount of lime, usually 1500 
Ibs. to the acre, was a moderate application. It is entirely 
possible that a heavier application would have had a harmful 
effect in some fields. 
While these experiments are too few and scattering to give 
an absolute measure of the conditions in any particular part of 
the State, so far as they go they show that the use of moderate 
amounts of lime brings improvement to the alfalfa crop in 
practically all cases. The relation of lime to the needs of his 
soil should be carefully tested by every farmer who is striving 
to grow alfalfa. 
The problem as to what is the most profitable amount of lime 
to apply in each particular field has not been studied in these 
experiments. Such a study would have required an accurate 
weighing of the product from each plat and means for doing 
this were lacking at a large proportion of the farms at which 
we conducted our experiments. It seems evident from our 
observations that the amount of lime which should be applied 
to obtain the maximum profitable returns differs as widely in 
different fields as do their fertilizer requirements. The prin- 
ciple having been established, as the result of careful experi- 
ments, that liming is generally profitable with alfalfa in this 
State the farmer must work out for himself the details as they 
apply to his own land, just as he does the matter of the applica- 
tion of fertilizers. 
LITMUS AS A TEST OF THE NEED OF LIME. 
_A ready means of determining the need of lime in connec- 
tion with the growing of alfalfa would be a distinct advantage; 
and from the beginning of these experiments with alfalfa each - | 
