THE FARM.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 116, 16 May 1906, Page 9

THE FARM.

I pSe .manner^ x>i applying linie. to. «tne land is etall art ippen question amongst .linnersj «rai3ideriiig; ihe-jiuinber o| ; '■wiiye; one'sees- it ion&! It is, of course, yeara ago- ihat limewaefinownisacon-; stituent of plants,.and in.eailj. times ii, was tbo^glit, sufficient use r6rnii|rl J fo supply tfiis. Jibre..jecent inveatigation, however, has shown -that liming really brings, ahout a;Humber of ,ifeac.tjon3.' In "the soil,- for instance, ,de? i ; ettipyijig r partly ttie plasticity of day» | neutralising acids, getting. free. other plant food, etc,, ao. that the is upon" as one of .vital..impQrtance.. : . Lime, now 'sOlCio li9Xjad?Ji t. Jot this purpose is almost always in lumps of i burnt' lime or quicklime, ob< tamed "by -burning limestone" in kilns, ■and these lumps are placed in /heaps: on ■the land,: ,and, allovred :to slake and crum--ble flown to powder, after which the I lime is ploughed in. Quicklime is, chemically speaking, oxide- of calcium, [ and when treated with water underthe phenomenon of slaking, -thereby, giving out >a. .considerable quantity of heatj its volume increases, -and instead of hard lumps,;. we find in its plaice a fine :pow!de'r, known as slaked lime, or Jiydrate of. caMum.., SJaked Jime con.tains water as a natural. constituent, ; and: therefore the amount; of real .lime | ini,it ( ia.onVy about, cent. cx>mparEd wiib .about 9p; .per ceijt.'..in quicklime." Sonpiefiiiris %c ig slaked -by spreading out in. the -faJmyaxH, anjl-sprinkling water on In! this case It is weil to remember the "percentage composition of the two, ac it' is likely a farmer ■ would • put the «ame •weight -o£ slaked as quicklime on his .land thereby -making , a miscalculation of about 40 per cent.. r - -. . SLAKED LIME. I have mentioned above, .that when lime is slaked a.large, quantity of heat is given out;—and for that reason it is raoet advisable that this heat should not. tm lost. Most chemical actions ares greatly intensified when carried out in hot solutions, and since the principal the actions of lime on coils are chemical, it stands to reason that fall advantage should be taken of too heat .given out on slaking. When lime 'is slaked in the heapsj nearly the whole of the heat is lost, as most of the lime i 3 ont of contact with the soil, and that portion which ig resting on the ground —the base of the heap-r«ertain]y has .•the full effect,.and it is probabie that the -very -fertile spots noticed here and there r in- the- fields, .'are - due. to this, " The" only wayi-therfore, -to.utilise the good effects of liming- is to 'apply quick-lime immediately to the soft, »nd not slake it beforehand. - -The -chief -objection to this, however,- is that the--operation of slaking .reduces the quicklime to a very fine powder, that is, if properly carried out, which allows of its being intimately mixed, with the soil in the future operations. The best quicklime comes into the market in more or lese large lumps, and it would be next to uselees to spread it .on tho land, since the amount usually applied would only allow of such lumps being scattered here and there; so that a few inches in every .square yard would benefit'by it. .The. only alternative would be to use " XJKCHJND QUICKLIME. ?

In this way a regtdar distribution of the lime is possible. The-only objections to using ground lime are that it naturally takes up water Very-fqiiickiy when exposed to the air, and it placed in sacks is apt to rot them. Then, of course, the comparatively cheap material is increased in price by the expense of grinding, but there is very little doubt of it pay- | ing the farmer for the extra expense in- ! curred, for here -we can make use of the lime to its fullest extent. When spread on the land it can be left there -without j any ploughing in, should it be a particularly rainy period, since the rain has a tendency to drive the lime into the soil, "though hot to a very great depth; then the chemical actions Tiegin at once, before the lime has time to spoil by being exposed to the aid, and thereby absorbing carbonic acid, which."it does to a considerable extent when applied in the old. method. Another advantage of. using ground quicklime over the eelf-elaking method Is that one can. choose the correct time to apply "it, whereas. on'ah ideal heaps o££? lime""'might riot .;be sufficiently slaked, i.e., in power form; to spread.. An intermediate method, saving a. little in. expense,. consists in making heaps of quicklime here and there in the fields;.then, breaking up the lumps there at ones aboirt one inch diameter, and ploughing , : in;_ the lime -elaJkes in the ground, as there is always in autumn sufficient moisture to permit this, and by-future ploughing and'harrowing the slaked lime isthoroughly-niijEed np with"the -soil. In this way we]get the full ■working'effects of the slaked lime, -which are nearly equal to those of quicklime;, ■and though the slaked lime mayfhave.to remain underground for some time before being incorporated With the, soil by. ploughing, etc, it remains there as suchwithout- changing very rapidly 'to carbonate- of lime. ■■■■'-"-•■'• .

SITING APPLICATION WBONG. One often sees liming in the spring, and- less, frequently in the late- spring. N.pwv for many reasons, this -13 wrong. In the first plaice, the autumn and winter rains 'have the tendency-to-thoroughly .mix lime and soil, together, < "which, is : .never quite complete by mechanical means. Then, when the slaked lime has done its chemical and mechanical, actions on the soil, it is necessary that it should be converted to bicarbonate of lime by absorbing carbonic add before it tan be assimilated" by plants, and it~-i£"'-in- -the late' summer and autumn that* the soil] contains io much free carbonic acid, due 1 .WHMJtii^i- decomposition of t&sTiuinus | ;M- •ffifr' i wfcif i m' ■weatKer,-' 5 56 ; that" the lime is rapidly conveirfced into plant-food. A well treated -with lime holds- watermuch stronger than an unlimed soil, and' ;thfe ; winter rains are retained in" the iii~.iref(^Te; jter,;Bpiing, ,~Mor^oTer,: .quicklime absorbs rwater itself,' which is only partially giv»n. -vipj. and jbaait Tiery-, gradually; so. if land is limed in.the spring we lose the effect of the winter rain; 'being retained, and it also,.dries m^1 thes :■ soij, the, quicklime taking Its retj-uired' quantity, _the. ,soil iteelfi' especially iii "a season.;; This 'is one of. :jthe. causes <t>f non-suooess one., hears about, whichi: naturally prejudices tanners against Its/use. Of . :::■ ; :~?* : THK JBEEBCTS OJL.THE tjmtj" on the soil, these are ecomparatively well: known, lidding the land of sourness and eetttng free dpi-mant pi* nt : food being iier principal ones!" Pofc ash is most frequently, present in the soil as silicate of potash, and 'tW lime iii its caustic etate sets this free, and/ ;by further chemical action and interr" changes;top complicated to mention the. Ipjltash? is ;-flna^qjteaerel* v *Taai&e i:; for planWdodv;in' ; . form )t>f sulphate y& ni^

shown that one of the most beneficial ! effects of-liming is to set free as plantfood the : .phosphoric fw&sL. in^'thje-reeij oombiaed wich, iron; this phoephate pi ißnii ?ie fonni v?hen .lime;; 3 Added ;±6 - the willideficMait;. in .lime, iron.liemg 'fffesentpaiway* in *uffit cient quantity-..t0 bring this .about, And! J£.is;.yery likely that even, with a.-jfair.-. .quantity : of lime .present in, Wie..Soil; this reversion takee pMcey. -A,,g00d.-.flressing: of however, the lime,; combining; -nrith the phosphoric-atdd, forming .■■«> phosphate -of •lime, Tery easily abaprbedby the plant rootlets, -the phosphate--of iron being taken up extremeirdifficulty.—-W; F. Sutberst, in 'KF#rmer ; and-Stockbreeder."