LIME ON GRASS LAND.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2323, 31 May 1887, Page 2

LIME ON GRASS LAND.

MrG. IS!". C. Weight, Sigglesthorne Hall, Hull, writing to a contemporary on the Sussex Agricultural Experiments, says :— The lesson to be learnt from these results, which ought to be continued ancl confirmed in different parts of Great Britain, is that the application of lime to pasture land is both costly and unproductive, and that much better results can be obtained iy the use of quick-acting manures. Three or four years ago I had about a cartload of lime left by fhe brickalyers in a shed which we required. I had it spread on a ' land' in an old grass field, a strong loam, with clay subsoil ; this was done in the early spring. The satpe year I expected tg notice the on which the lime had been spread by the increased productiveness- and healthy green colour and growth of the grass. I was, however, disappointed ; there was obviously no improvement; if anything, the grass looked poorer. I mentioned this to a land agent of forty years experience, and iie said, ' \yait till next year, and you will ' see that it will improve the grass immensely.' The next year there" was no improvement whatever, and now I forget Ufj.nd' it was. • ' " - My experience is that lime is worse than useless on grass land which is kept in a proper state of cultivation. On fresh or coarse, and especially on peaty land, it has produced striking improvements' and the addition of "lime a ! compost heap no ' doiibtf' improves the" minimal action of the eq,rth with which it is mixed. Old benty pastures and tufts of rank grass are toned down by the use of lime ; but even for these coarse benty pastures a good dressing of salt is much to be preferred. There is nothing which lines duv,'ii the Ijerpage lflQi'c tiia'i'j sa}t, followed after aii interval by a dressing of artificial manure. Basic cinder manure has produced most favourable results on grass ; land ; the-phosphoric aoipl wlfich tains'promote? 'q,'growth 'of qlover and grass which We}l repays tjie outlay.' The 'manure can be obtained for 22s per ton .'ex works.' A dressing of 10 tons of basic or' Thomas' manure, at 22s per ton, and 2 ions oi uitoate of soda, £i 0 per ton, would cost. £31 for 12j tons of manurethis would g;'iyo' a 1 good dressing 1 to 40 acres of pasture land, at a cost of los Gd per acre. It would bp jn-cferablq to apply the jiiiritjie 6* soda in jiivo'dregsinffs— say in April and' in May ; the basic manure ■should bo applied'in one dressing-in the early spring, as it is rather a slow-actintr r |l t o of gojja may be made easier of equal distribution by beingmixed with sand or sifted dry earth previous to being Bowh. We mky surely expect to see a marked improvement fn our pasture land wheii the value of the basic manure is more widely known. The importance of continuing experiments on manures of all kinds should bo realised by evory one of the agricultural

societies throughout Great Bri4ifi, jin order that a regular and systematic dourse or experiments may be carried out in different districtn, arid-so doing they will increase their sphere 0 f a hundred fold.