LAND

Otaki Mail, Volume 26, 25 April 1919, Page 4

LAND

LIME. lifter the stubbie is ploughed iz a go.id time to apply lime to araLu soil, : ate.-.- a writer in the “N.Z. Farmer.” la New Zealand it is customary to sow pasture sc-eds after a cereal crop, but although il is advisable to do so under in circumstances, as a genorM rule i : s not considered to be good terming. A • matter of fact, tho poor condition ■A many of the New Zealand permanent pastures is She result of sowing tho p.rtuio seeds after a succession of iu crops. If at di possible, pasture . r-sds should be sown after a -fallow cron has.been eaten off the lane. But whether the intention is to follow the co-reals with pasture or fallow crops, liming the stubble furrow is x good practice. Liming has become fashionable in New Zealand, and long may the fashion last, provided that it is not overdone. Since the introduction of the raw ground limestone for agricultural purposes there is not so much danger of over liming, as in bygone days, when burnt lime only was applied. Like many other valuable aids to agriculture, the discovery of the agricultural value of the raw limestone was the result of the observation of practical men. On the other hand, it may be permissible to cite an authentic case, among many, which shows how a number of our agricultural scientists have ignored, and do ignore, many practical facts that stare there, iu the

: face. A visitor to the Eothampstced Ex- ' porimor.t Farm was shown by the scientist in charge what was considered to be one of the puzzling objects cf interest, viz., tho luxuriant growth of clover iu a portion of the soil close to an old wall, while other parts were clover sick. Tho visitor was informed that though many chemical and physical examinations of the clover sick soil had been made, the scientific staff had failed to discover the cause of the clover sickness, and the question was puzzling them very much. But the visitor, who was well acquainted with the beneficial effects of lime, diagnosed the case at once, and propounded the solution that the wall had fallen down at that part, of which there was evidence, and the lime thus applied to the soil had been the cause of the luxuriant growth of clover, while the clover sick soil was suffering from the lack of lime. If is a matter for congratulation that the Rothampstead Experiment Farm is now being conducted on common-sense lines, which was not the case only a few years ago. It was not until 1903 that the director of that station declared ■‘that it is absolutely necessary to keep up a regular supply of lime- in the surface, soil for the use of the nitrifying and other advantageous sol' bacteria, and that the application of an annual dressing of ground lime at the rate of oewt per acre is an all-iraport-ant operation in the routine of fanning.”

It is muc-h to be regretted that tha supply of lime available in New Zea- , land is not equal to the demand, although the deposits are plentiful and rieb. It has to be remembered that tho • application of lime to the soil is mainly ; the means of exploiting its natural fertility, or the fertility which may have been artificially applied, and that continuous liming without manure will ° lead to soil exhaustion sooner or later. Rich swamp soils, however, will give good results for a number of years from repeated dressings of lime onft as it j lebrates the great stores of plant food : which such soils contain. i