LIME AS A FERTILIZER.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1476, 17 December 1881, Page 2

LIME AS A FERTILIZER.

The efforts, now fairly inaugurated for utilizing the lime resources of the Hakaramata range on Raglan line of road and the undoubted prospect' that e£ists of a 'cheap^and plentiful supply biing provided, naturally enough- gives the- subject renewed interest to the Waikato settler. The general aspect of the question is one I'^ which isv 'bfeinjf largely discussed by standard agri-cultural-journals, and. .without exception they all return a verdict in favor of the judicious application of lime to soils showing signs of Exhaustion or otherwise deficient" in nutriment. The Agricultural Gazette has recently devoted a goocl deal of attention to the matter, and in sofaras our case would seem to bear analogy to those dealt "vvith by the Gazette, we have appended the information supplied for the guidance of our readeis. „' , ' I

f Swamp or,bog soils. ,'; Alluding to the grass lands of Surrey which are stated to grow but little besides sorrel and serai-aquatic weeds, .we are told : —This occurs on peaty "dr what is more generally termed fen soils, la this lies an instructive lesson for application in the case in question. If a portioa of this peaty soil, which produces the plants indicated,,be pufc into a 'flowerpot and " digested,'' as spine chemists say, with a little lime, and then a mixture of sorrel, kingcup and grass seeds be sown, the two former, which can and do fe"ed on a free acid, will not grow.' This is&ecause the lime,neutialised the free acid by again being partially restored to a state of carbonate of lime. Bdt whilo this chemioal'traniformation has been fatal' to the sorrel and kingcup, it has made the peaty soil into a condition for seeds'' of grasses or cereals to germinate in and grow. On tho contrary, if a pot of the same soil be placed side by side intk the one treated as above described, and the soil be left in its natural state, and a mixture of the above seeds bo sown in it, then the sorrel and kingcup will germinate and flourish, but , the ,-freB acid will prove so noxious to' the grans seeds that they will not germinate at all. The lesson the result of these experiments teaches is clear. Where sorrell and kingcups grow in super-abundance —that is, to an extent iv which they injure the growth ot the graoa-iit is clear that a dressing of lime or chalk is advisable. Two or three tons of lime per acre, if it be slaked and well broadcasted, will have a due effect for tfcree or four years, wHile G or 8 tous of eh ilk would he required to have a similar effect, nnd this would scarcely begin before the second year after it has been applied. A better plan of apply in? the lime, if it can be managed', is to raif-e a quantity of the soil on aifeeadl.md, or by clearing out a ditch,"or.by paring down an unnecessarily widehegderow in the autumn, and mixing the lime with it. Then, in the spring, or during the winter, this mixture may be applied at the rate of eight, ten, or twelve cartloads per aero, according to the quantity of the t>oil available for covering the acreage that needs to be dressed. To mix lime, and soil, and earth in this way has a twofold advantage when applied to pastures. The lime makes soluble of dissolves some of the mineral constituents"of the soil with whiuh it is mixed, which act in combination with the lime as food for the most nutritious grasses, while the lime is there at the same time with all its power to neutralise the free acidrwhich fed the sorrel aud kingcups, and allowed them to flourish.

Arable land Treatment. Arable land indicates whether it needs chalk or lime by the weeds it produces. King-cups on clay land show that it does, and water grass on mixed soil points to the same end. W6W 6 had our first experience of chalk being put on clay land longer than wo care to mention. The field was in Eqsex, and sloped from the south towards the River Stour, and for many years had not produced a kindly crop of cereals or anything else ; but the farmer of it had a few bargeloaija.of ohalk brought down from Ballingdon, near Sudbury, and he dressed it with about 15 ton§ per acre. The r next crop, instead 'of being half kingcups, or *'gye," as thaw plants are there called, was as fine and clean a crop of wheat as need be seen. Chalk and lime in the present day are apparently appreciated at their proper value. There are 'other instances where lime or chalk would mako a marked effect on pasture land.' lif'is common observation that patches of*a pasture are bitten down bare, while other patches are scarcely touched. There is no better analytical agent than the nose of a , cow, horse, Or sheep. Where * the "uneaten patohea are seen the grass is coarse and sour from a free acid haying accumulated in the soil. In some cases jsorrell or king* cups do not appear,' but there is the fact of the produce of these patches being distasteful to the animals of the farm. Lime applied in a well-slaked state to the distasteful patches would make them'palatable in a fewweeks after the first heavy rain, and chalk would do the same if applied as recommended ; above, before the end of the next year!" One reason, why we said chalk and lime are not apparently appreciated at their due value was this singular — not to say ludiorous — in'etanpe of < wrong, judgment. 0a -a farm r jfe visited two or three years ago there was a pasture as patchy , as we <evei saw one. Parts were eaten- down by the cows on it as bare as possible, while pn f other parts there was enough for a good; swate. The ownerof it had,* collected some lime and earth, and when we were ' there in the autumn he Was puttitig ib on, the bare patches'! Of coarse thia mixture should have been applied to the ntieaten pitches. As we have intimated; there is no '-better agent to test the quality of grass^inan the ndsVof an animal whichwas 'designed by iiature / to eat »> grass. - !i An eiperiinent to test the 'foregoing may- soon ' he : made. Where" grass in- whiphjsorrel or kingcups ha,v6 grown, to tHe injury of* tfi67igra"M t has been or w abouttp be oufe ptit a>pybk of : we)l'«l«ked lime otf a wfrfif/ mfM watbt theMiffete^e=to(;hoiiftermtixjoi; autnom cjop. - 1 '4i - w ■ *% '' ,( k k%" '