LIME: ITS USbS IN AGRICULTURE AND MODES OF APPLICATION.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3099, 26 May 1892, Page 3

LIME: ITS USbS IN AGRICULTURE AND MODES OF APPLICATION.

LIMB AS A MANURE. (From Mark Lane Express). LIMK, viewed as a manurial element, is one of the most valuable and important mineral substances with whioh tho agriculturists of the present day are acquainted. By its uses, even in very limited quantities, waste land in process of reclamation is quickly brought into a atate whioh renders it capable of bearing profitable orop?, the coarse vegetation which generally covers such land and uselessly occupies the soil, being speedily decomposed, and the elements of fertility thereby imparted. It is not, however, to waste land alone that the application of lime is valuable, as it can with propriety be used upou land in a high state of cultivation with highly beneficial results—in faot, the bulk of the lime used in agriculture is applied to land long in cultivation and worked in the usual rotation common to each district On heivy clays, adhesive and difficult to work, lime pavs for its occasional application by the mere mechanical influence exercised on such soils. By the action of quicklime tho most stubborn soils become disentegrated, and consequently easy to work, the saving of the labour alone in many cases paying for the first cost of the lime. In liminir land, the practice of farmers has greatly altered of lato years, as instead of being a heavy dressing at long intervals, which formerly was prevalent, smailer quantities at intervals of from six. to teu years, according to the rotation followed, is the most popular method of applying lime at the prosent day. This stands to reason, as apart from i f s meohanical action (the great use of lime being to liberate imd utilise the organic matters contained in the soil, and so enable it to enter into new combinations), too heavy a dressing exhausts this ingredient too suddenly, instead of benefitting the land, such an application materially injures it for several successive seasons. Light land will, of course, sustain much greater injury from an excessive dose of lime than heavy clay or coarse bind, and be much longain recovering from the effects of an overdose. Land in good manurial condition, which has not yet received an application of lime for many years, is greatly benefited thereby ; and its effects are so rapid aud striking that many farmers

have been induced to continue its application until tin: fertility of their soil was almost—nay, in f;ict, completely—exhausted. A farmer who uses lime in conKideruhlo quantities without recruiting 1 thti exhausted energies of his land with a proportionate aupply of manure, may make a decent living, possibly, for some year.i ; but if he himself should escape the consequences of such, scourging husbandry, those who succeed him can scarcely hops to do so, as there is much forcible truth in the old couplet— " Ho who limes without manure. Will leave his furm and family poor." One special recommendatory feature to the use of lime in agriculture is its portability—this being- more particularly the case when the situation permits of its being drawn from the kiln in a state of quicklime, or more familiarly, limc-tJieils. It can be carried with comparative easo to great elevations, where the conveyance of farm-yard manure in any appreciable quantity would be simply i iipraoticablc; and, under its sweetening influence, heath, moss, and bent-grass soon disappear, and become an active and abundant source of nourishment to the cultivated grasses or other crops, if the situation permits of their cultivation. _On reclaimed moorland powdery lime acts much more quickly in reducing the coarse vegetable matters to a state by which the after-crops can be benefited than when used after it has becomo mild. In Scotland we have seen land broken up, and by the application of lime alone, grow the cultivated grasses in extraordinary luxuriance, where previously nothing was to be seen but an unbroken waste ot heather, wonderfully beautiful certainly in autumn when in full flower, but practically valueless, and tho abode of the mountain hare, roe-deer, fox, and other animal?. This particular piece of mountain was broken up in 1850, and torn to pieces by repeated ploughings as minutely as the state of the foil would admit, then left rough for tho ameliorating influence of the" frosts of -winter. The following spring operations were resumed as soon as the weather would permit ; and, after another ploughing and the removal of stones and other incumbrances to suecess-

ful tillage, lime was liberally applied and worked in, and the land left for a Huor, time to rest, previous to its being sown with grass seeds. This, owing to the extent of the numerous operations that had to be carried out, could not he accomplished until June; yet, notwithstanding the comparative lateness of the season, by the end of August or tho beginning of September, the young grasses were so thick and luxuriant that a large s'ook of half-bred Leicester sheep, five to the acre, were placed upon it, and wi iv; sustained thereon until finished for the butcher. This is probably an exception il case, the soil, although on top of the hill, or almost mountain, being deep mid naturally fertile, requiring only the outlay of a few pounds per acre in labour and lime to make it productive ; but, notwithstanding, ranch laud that is still unreclaimed, or only partially so, is capable of extraordinary improvement by a judicious yet moderate expenditure of capital in lime and labour. It is evident that without lime much of the reclaimed land or elevated situations must have still remained in a state of nature, from the difficulty of getting bulky materials plaetd upon the land, not to take into consideration the inability of any kind of organic manure to take the place of lime in quickly decomposing and rendering active the useless vegetable matters which originally had possession of the surface. To be sure, in the absence of lime, paring and burning is a very effectual method of getting rid of the roots of heath, rushes, and other obstructions present on land in a state of nature; and when worked up, portable manures can be very successfully used as fertilisers ; by their use turnips can be raised, if the situation admits of their cultivation, and being eaten off with sheep, the land is thus well prepared for the reception of the grass seeds. Elevated land, however, is seldom possessed of such depth of soil as to be able to spare any of if for the process of paring and burning, which is at best an exhaustive operation, and should never be attempted unless there is sufficient depth of soil to warrant its being done without permanently, or at least for many years, injuring the soil by destroying its resources. The carriage of lime by railway has of late years conferred a great benefit on the enterprising agriculturist, as by this means lime for manmial purposes has been carried into districts where previously the expense of carriage amounted to actual prohibition. By rail it can be conveyed away immediately on being drawn from the kiln, and the land can thus have the application of quick lime, When a farmer can only avail himself of water-carriage to bring lime within easy calling distance of his farm, he must be content with it in its slacked or mild state, which puts him to a double disadvantage, as the application is not so beneficial, and the carting from the increased hulk is doubly laborious. The directors of most railways very properly give every facility for the conveyance of such bulky articles as lime and dung, and take them at very cheap rates. We are aware of lime shells being carried 24 miles at about lOd a ton, which charge is a very marvel of cheapness and offers great encouragement to the farmers in the districts traversed to use it, which they do, and with excellent results, as must always be the case—save with certain exceptions—when applied to land, which from its distance from limestone has never had an opportunity of being overdone or even of haviug had a moderate dressing.