VALUE OF LIME.

Waipa Post, Volume II, Issue 59, 7 November 1911, Page 4

VALUE OF LIME.

BEST METHOD OF APPLYING IT,

Here is a simple statement of what lime does for the soil :

1. Cures soil acidity and improves the mechanical condition, making it more friable, especially if the soil is a heavy clay. 2. It increases the activity of die soil bacteria, thus increasing die nitrogen content of the soil. 3. Lime is taken up very greedily by all legume plants, especially the clovers and lucerne. .4. It is especially beneficial to grass pastures. After years of cultivation and cropping, however, the lime element in the surface soil becomes seriously deficient.

Agricultural lime (burnt, unslaked, and ground ready for drilling), packed in sixteen bags to the ton, costs about 26s per ton. Turning to ground limestone, which costs about 18s per ton bagged, it may be said for it: — 1. Is less expensive than quick lime. 2. It does not. burn the humus out of the soil like quick lime, for it has no caustic effect. This is a most important feature, and one that farmers should seriously consider.

It has been shown in America, that the results were largely in favour of lime in its carbonate form over burnt lime, but the principle of the old saying, What is one man's meat is another man's poison," appears to hold good with respect to the application of lime. In sour swamps, for instance, caustic or burnt lime will be the more likely to quickly correct the over-acidity of the land, and liberate the plant food. It will, therefore, be a question for the individual farmer to determine which is the better —burnt or raw ground —for his particular pastures or croos, and where he is in any doubt he can quickly ascertain what he wants to know by a simple experiment. For it must be remembered that both are good ; it is only a question of ascertaining which is the better for his particular soil. TRIALS IN SCOTLAND.

As to the best form of employing lime, whether burnt or ground, in what quantities, and how often

should the applications be repeated, are uncertainties which assail not only the farmers of New Zealand ; they still trouble agriculturists the world over. In order to settle some of these questions the West of Scotland started a series of experiments at the College Experiment Station in the year 1902. The Professor of Agriculture at the College (Mr R, Patrick Wright) only recently issued his report on the result of the experiments. The details are very instructive, but what wiil be of most immediate interest to farmers arc the practical conclusions, which are summarised as follows : I. On land deficient in lime its application will increase the yield of crops, but the amount of increase obtained will depend on the quantity of lime given, the method of applying it, and the kind of crops grown.

2. Large dressings of not less than 4 tons per acre applied at long intervals of time are much legs,., effective in producing an ■jncrease,d yield of crops than the same quantity of lime applied mor|;fr.equenlly in divided doses. jlpThe largest increases of props were obtained in thisexannual applications of iocwtj-burnt lime ber acre. Applications „of 5 and of 10 cwt. per acre per annum gave profitable relults,- but the larger dressings of I, 2 and 4 tons per acre proved very unprofitable. 4. The direct application of lime to the turnip crop produced a large increase in the yield, and the larger the quantity of lime given, up to 4 tons per acre, the greater was the increase. A dressing of iOcwt. per acre proved however, most profitable. 5. On the hay crop lime applied to previous crops was benefical, but lime applied on the young seeds tended to diminish the yield of hay, except when given in small quantity. 6. Liming exercised a benilical effect on all cereal crops. The lime added to the value of the crop by increasing the yield of grain, but the yield of straw underwent some diminution.

7. In this experiment the wheat crop benefited more from the application of lime than any of the other cereals, and barley least. The oat crop occupied an intermediate position.

8. On the potato crop the ..ect of living was invaiibly injurious, and caused a diminution of the crop, whether applied in large or in such a small quantity of 5 cwt. per care. 9. The application of lime to soils where the potato crop is frequently grown, even when they show a deficiency in that ingredient, is therefore to be avoided. If applied at all it should be put on the soil as many yc irs before the potato crop is tc be grown as the rotation admits.