LIME IN SOIL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20104, 24 March 1928, Page 22 (Supplement)

LIME IN SOIL

MANY ADVANTAGES EFFECT ON THE PASTURES The advantages of the use of lime on the soil are manifold:— 1. Lime is an essential plant, food. Most soils, however, contain ample for this purpose. 2. Lime keeps down the harmful acidity in a soil, whether naturally present or induced by the application vf such manures as superphosphates and sulphate of ammonia. 3. Largely on account of this neutralisation of acidity, lime present in the soil allows bacterial action to proceed, whereby the organic matter in the soil, such as dead roots and ploughed-in stubble, is converted to humus or mould, and the nitrates, so essential to plant life are formed.

4. In addition, there is a class of bacteria, living on the roots of leguminous plants, such as lucerne, clover and peas, which have the power of collecting nitrogen present in the air and storing it in the soil, where, in the form of nitrates, it is absorbed by the growing plants; and yet another class, living independently in the soil, have this power of fixing atmospheric nitrogen. These processes are impeded, and even destroyed by the absence of lime.

5. Lime keeps the soil healthy, and is a remedy for certain fungoid diseases which attack plant roqts.

6. Lime liberates other foods in a soil, and makes them available to the plant; notably potash, but to some extent phosphates. 7- The greatest advantage, however, derived from the application of lime or gypsum is the physical effect on the soil. In .South Australia the liming factor for production is moisture, and any treatment which will help to produce a fine tilth, and so conserve moisture in the soil, is of major importance. Stiff clay, which is too sticky to work when wet, and sets hard and cracks on drying may be brought to a good condition by the application of lime or gypsum. It is common throughout the State to find paddocks with sticky patches in them. Apart from the actual loss in crops occasioned by the stiffness of these soils, there is the serious handicap of having to wait until these arc a fit condition to work, or risk having the teams stuck up while the rest of the land could be proceeded with. In such eases it would undoubtedly pay to lime those heavy patches, and so ensure a more uniform condition of the paddock.