H4^ Ill* " I Cornell University Library S 643.H42 Folks and fields need lime. 3 1924 000 305 502 International Harvester Company INCOPPORATEO Agricultural Dctension Department Harvester Bldc Chicago yjH^S-i -%v^^^^k:ii^ .„-^7 ®-^<-^ fWALF the soils of the United States need lime. M M When soils need lime they are said to be "sour." Sour soils are not worth much until they are limed. We can supply lime to our soils by spreading lime- stone, lime, shells or marl upon them. We should use the form of lime which, under our conditions, does the most good for the money. Our County Agents, Agricultural Colleges and Ex- periment Stations know local conditions and will help us decide on the kind and amount of lime to use. This booklet is not to discuss the technicalities or chemistry of lime. It is to encourage us to use lime or limestone on our farms when it is needed. The word "lime" as used in this booklet, unless definitely designated, is a general term including any kind of agricultural lime or limestone. FOLKS and FIELDS NEED LIME By RALPH A. HAYNE OF THE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION DEPARTMENT K N NOTE: Extracts from this booklet may be reproduced by giving proper credit to the publishers. Eleclros ot cuts will be furnished at cost. H » Copyright 1921 by International Harvester Company INCORPORATED Agricultural Extension Department P.G.HOLDEN FIELD DIRECTOR HARVESTER BLDG. CHICAGO AE7D-50M-2-7-22 h A LIMESTONE COUNTRY IS A RICH COUNTRY Wherever we find an abundance of lime in the soil and plenty oi moisture, there we should find the strongest people, the best live stock, the best pastures, the biggest crops, the most prosperous farmers, the best towns. We don't find this sort of a farm with a soil scarce of lime, wasn't already in this soil, somebody put it in before this scene happened. There isn't anything in the soil shown in this picture but what can be put in any soil. The main difference between these two fields is that the one on the right, with its rank, rich clover and soU full of roots has lime in the soil, while the one on the left with its cold, bare, lifeless clay is scarce of lime. It's lime that made that clover grow. Is the difference worth liming for? A soil naturally filled with lime is a great blessing but remember, we can put lime in any soil and make a blessing of it. 4 A Sour-soil Country is a Poor Country When soils need lime, the crops get small and of poor quality, farmers get poor and discontented, towns get shabby and desolate. 1 Tumble-down, abandoned buildings, little shaggy animals, little scraggly crops and stoop-shouldered despondent folks are found where the soil needs lime. There are millions and millions of tons of limestone waiting to be spread on our soils, waiting to change our sour, money-losing farms to productive clover-growing fields. This matter of liming our soils is one which affects every one of us, man, woman and child, no matter whether we live in the country or the town. It affects every farmer, banker, merchant, minister, teacher. It affects every home maker, wife, mother, business woman. It affects every citizen from 1 day to 90 years of age. If we think w^ are not interested, let's finish reading this book; we may change our minds. 5 Half the Soils of the United States Need Lime "^^^d i^^S ^ Practically all the soUs east of this line need lime. This means that clover and alfalfa don't grow on a lot of the farms east of the line. It means that none of the grasses or farm crops does its best on millions of acres oti the east side of the line. It means that many people and many animals east of the line are weak because they don't get enough lime to make strong bones and teeth. ^ It also means that we might work 14 hours a day, 313 days a year farming that soil and barely make a living; maybe get poorer each year. There are also big patches west of that line that need lime. They are not so large, not so numerous and sometimes not so needy of lime as the east side but they are growing larger, soiu-er, and more harmful every year. The cure for these lime-poor soils whether east, west, north or south is lime. The Importance of Lime One of the first things that we need on most of our soils east of the Mississippi river is lime. We also need lime on the soil in many places west of the Mississippi river. The foundation principle of successful farming and national pros- perity is a maximum yield from every acre cultivated. Important as is an efficient marketing system, we must not over- look the fact that maximum crops per acre are just as important. Maximum crops are not possible when the soil needs lime. We need more lime production and better and cheaper delivery to our farms. The kind of lime we use depends on which kind is most economical in our case. If we must haul it long distances and pay freight on a long haul, let's use burnt lime. If we can get ground limestone handy and cheaply, let's use it. The main thing is to get hme on our soils that need it. Use the lime to grow crops of clover and alfalfa, the crops that make our soils richer and furnish us the best live stock feed. —P. G. Holden. Lime in the soil will not take the place of drainage or manure or fertilizer; lime will not take the place of good tillage. But drainage, manure, fertilizer or good tillage will not bring full returns without lime in the soil. Why Do We Need Lime in Our Soils? First; Folks must have lime. (See page 8). The way for folks to get lime is in their food. Food comes from the soil; it grows out of the soil in the form of plants. The way to put lime in food is to have lime in the soil so plants can get it. Second: Animals must have lime. (See page 9.) Without domesticated animals peo- ple never amount to much. Animals never amount to much without plenty of lime in their food. Animals eat plants. The way to put lime in the animals' food is to have lime in the soil so plants can get it. Third : Plants must have lime. (See pages 10 and 11.) Our useful plants, the ones that make the best food, the ones that make the soil fertile, must have lime to help build their stems and leaves and seed. None of these plants does its best and some of them will not grow at all in soils that need lime. Without these plants we can't have good Uve stock or rich soil; without good live stock and rich soil we would be a poor people. Fourth: The soil itself must have lime. (See page 12.) We want the soil to produce useful plants. Lime not only supplies food that plants must have, but it takes away harmful acids that keep plants from growing, makes the soil easier to cultivate, makes other plant food in the soil available so plants can use it, makes the soil a good place for bac- teria, without which the soil is no good. Folks Must Have Lime Don't shy at this picture; each of us has a skeleton, and if it isn't a strong, lime-fed skeleton it will go to the grave before its time. A man should have three pounds or more of lime m his body. Women and chil- dren should have nearly as much. The most of this lime is in the bones and teeth. Wc can't have much of a man or woman without a strong frame and good grinders. We can't have strong bones and good teeth without plenty of lime in our food. Every boy and girl needs lime-rich food every day. Many a youngster has weak bones, rick- ets, bov\' legs, strug- gles along only to be a frail, unhappy man or woman to die young because of lack of lime in the food. Folks grown in lime-rich countries have stronger frames, better teeth, better muscles and longer life than folks in countries where there is but little lime. Teeth like these for our boys and girls are worth more than anything we can leave them in our wills. 'if^ " - > /' We get lime from vegetables; we get it from milk. The way to put lime in vegetables, the way to put lime in the cow feed so the cow can put lime in the milk, is for us to put lime in the soil, if it is not already there. Animals Must Have Lime Our best breeds and families of live stock have been developed in countries where there is lime in the soil. A.nimals must have lime for bones and teeth just as much as folks. No kind of live stock will grow strong and vigorous without bone and muscle- making feeds like clovers and alfalfa, and clovers and alfalfa do not thrive on soils that need lime. These calves have hved on blue grass, white clover, alfalfa and red clover, grown on a lime-rich soil. These calves have tried to live on scanty pasture grown on an im- poverished and lime-poor soil. Animals fed on crops grown on soil that needs lime are apt to be under- sized, rough-haired, unthrifty. Keep the same family of animals eating crops on a lime-poor soil and each generation will be smaller and weaker than the one before. It takes lime and lots of it to make these frames strong. No animal is worth having with a framework of weak bones. 9 Plants Must Have Lime Because it's through plants that people and animals get lime. There is lime in all plants. The more useful the plant as a food and as a soil enricher, the greater the amount of lime it contains and the more hme we should have in the soil for it. (See next page.) The more lime there is in the soil, the more there will be in the plants. This tall, leafy alfalfa growing out of this lime soil has more lime in it than — this scattering, puny alfalfa, trying to live in a soil that is scarce of lime. Oats like these, grown where the soil is rich and full of lime, have more lin?e in them than — oats like these, grown in soil that is scarce in all kinds of plant food including lime. The alfalfa and oats growing on the lime soil not only produce more to the acre but every pound is better feed, and when eaten will make more bone and muscle than that grown on sour soil. Let's not forget that lime doesn't take the place of other plant food in the soil — but it does help the plant to get the other food. 10 Plants Must Have Lime How can we expect plants to get a full supply of lime if there is not plenty of lime in the soil? In a ton of alfalfa hay there are about 100 pounds of lime. In a ton of red clover hay there arc about 75 pounds of lime. In an acre of good corn there are about 25 pounds of lime- In an acre of good oats there are about 20 pounds of lime. The more lime there is in the soil, the more there will be in the plants and the better feed the plants will make. Notice the great quantities of hme in alfalfa and clover. This helps to explain why alfalfa and clover sometimes fail when other crops grow fairly well. Attention, Every Farmer Where the Ground Freezes: Plenty of lime in the soil will help to keep plants from heaving and winter kilKng. No, plenty of lime in the soil won't take the place of drainage but on well drained soil clover and alfalfa and other plants will grow strong and have strong roots, if they have plenty of lime, and strong vigorous plants will stand a lot more freezing and thawing than weak plants will. 11 The Soil Must Have Lime Because: First: It's from the soil that plants get their lime. Second: Soils get acids and "poisons" in them that keep good plants from growing. That's what we call "sour soil." Lime neutralizes or kills these acids or poisons. This action of lime is called "sweetening the soil." This old fiold lias been farmed and cropped until the soil ha.s acids and 'poisons" in it so plants can't get enough lime and won't half grow. A man might work and worry and "whet" away on that old field for 20 years and never get a good crop. This field needs a dose of lime to sweeten it lip; then it will respond to manure and fertilizer and cultivation and it will grow legume crops without which farming and live stock feeding are failures. When we see a field growing a half crop or less than a half crop like this we know the soil needs lime and that the man who is farming it isn't very prosperous. We can't get much profit from a field unless we get big crops from it. Lime may be the main thing on which big crops depend. 12 AH Soils Have Some Lime in Them Even "sour" soils have some lime but they haven't enough. (Read pages 23 and 24.) Even the soil in this old, sour field has lime in it but the trouble is the lime is so scarce and so hard for the plants to get that we can't grow a big crop unless we put on some lime. There are a few plants with such strong feeding roots that they can get enough lime to make a fair crop even when there isn't much lime in the soil, providing there is enough other plant food for them, 1)11 1 these plants grow better when there is plenty of lime. Corn and oats are examples of plants that can grow pretty well when there isn't much lime in the soil but they always grow better when lime is plenty. Even if there is some lime in all soils and even if some plants will grow in sour soil; the soil may need more lime anyway, because we must grow different crops in our rotations and the best crops in our rotations need lots of lime. The safe way is to have plenty of lime in the soil ready for any of the crops, then all the crops will grow better. 13 Lime Makes Bigger Crops An application of lime will not only make valuable crops like clover and alfalfa grow where they wouldn't grow before, but it will often nearly double the yield of other crops that will grow on sour soil. Here's what lime will do. Sweet clover and alfalfa growing together in Dutchess County, New York. County Agent F. H. Lacey says: "Before this field was limed it grew nothing but goldenrod and daisies." Sweet clover and alfalfa must have lime. The difference between lime and no lime. Indiana Experiment Station. Look at that big, healthy alfalfa in the background where ground lime- stone was spread, and no alfalfa in the foreground where no lime was spread. No lime Lime The Alabama Experiment Station reports 41 per cent increase in the > icld of corn from the use of lime. Corn is not always benefited by liine as much as some other crops, yet on an acid soil lime sure makes a difference. No matter how much tillage we provide or how much manure and fertilizer we use, we can't expect full returns if the soil needs lime. Read the next page. 14 Lime Makes Bigger Crops Every pound of lime inade three pounds of hay. That means three tons of hay for every ton of hme. - Ralph Q. Smith of the New York Extension Service, while county agent of Alleghany County, New York, reported that trials in that county resulted in an increase in yield of three pounds of hay for every pound of lime spread. How much will a ton of lime cost us? How much are three tons of hay worth? Let's figure it for ourselves. Before liming; only six loads of After liming; 25 big loads on the hay on eight acres. sanie eight acres. This happened on the farm of A. H. Clark, Harvester Company blockman in Albany, New York, territory. He says: "Lime on our eastern farms will more than double crop production." The Alabama Experiment Station says lime used in numerous experi- ments on sour soils increased cotton yields 2 to 129 per cent. 15 Lime Makes Manure Worth More Manure is one of the best fertilizers, but manure won't bring full returns until the soil has lime. Don't mix lime with manure; put them on separately. IManure only; corn per acre. 35.6 bushels Manure and limestone; bushels of corn per acre. 49.3 Manure only: hay per acre. 3,740 pounds of Manure and limestone; 6.K.0 pounds of hay per acre. These pictures show the increase in crops from using ground lime- stone with manure by the Indiana Experiment Station. The manure was put on at the rate of six tons to the acre once in three years and the limestone was put on at the rate of two tons per ace. The extra yields the first year more than paid for the limestone, to say nothing of the extra yields that followed in later years. Millions of dollars worth of fer- tility has been wasted by leaving manure to leach and rot out back of the barn. A big share of the manure that has been spread on our fields has I— i^ii^^M^— -^— I _ not done its best because we spread it on soil too sour to grow big crops even when it was manured. ifi Lime Makes Fertilizer Worth More Commercial fertilizers are profitable when rightly used. But we can't expect to get full profit from any fertilizer unless there is plenty of lime in the soil. Look at the results shown below from using fertilizer alone and fertilizer with ground limestone on black, sandy acid soils by the Indiana Experiment Station. In this test, covering a three-year rotation, 400 pounds to the acre of 2-10-8 fertilizer were used on one plot and on the other plot the same amount of fertilizer was used and in addition four tons of ground limestone to the acre. Note the increase in yields where the limestone was used. Fertilizer only, 2}^ bushels per acre. Cor: Fertilizer and limestone; bushels. 32}^ Oats Fertilizer only, 22 bushels per Fertilizer and limestone; 35 acre. bushels Hay Fertilizer, 1,000 pounds per acre Fertilizer and limestone; 3,900 pounds Every year thousands of tons of commercial fertilizer fail to bring full returns because the fertilizer is used on fields that are too sour for any kind of fertilizer to do its best. What millions of acres need is lime; then feritlizer has a full chance to make a profit. 17 Lime Helps to Get Plant Food From the Air Three-fourths of the air is nitrogen. Nil I ogen is one of the best plant foods, and one of the most expensive when we have to buy it. We can get nitrogen by using bacteria that live in nodules on the roots of plants. These bacteria, which make plant food out of nitrogen from the air, get sickly, won't gather much nitrogen and may die in soil that needs lime. Put plenty of lime in the soil and these bacteria will live and multiply and work, then the plants will grow big and strong, and the soil will get rich. Here are some of the plan Is which have nodules on their roots when the soil is sweet. When the soil needs lime there won't be many nodules and there won't be much nitrogen gathered. Sweet clover, good for pasture, hay, makes soil rich. Soy beans, useful on many farms that have never grown them. Alfalfa lives longest and makes the most and richest feed. The more lime there is in the soil, the more nodules there will be on the roots. Plants with nodules on their roots are the ones that not only make the soil rich, but they are the ones that furnish the best bone and muscle making foods, and they are the ones that have the most lime in them. (See page 11.) Some of th«se plants will grow all right in a rich soil even when lime is scarce, but having no nodules they are getting their nitrogen out of the soil, making the soil poorer, when they ought to be getting their nitrogen out of the air. Give them lime and they Avill get nitrogen from the air. 18 There Are Other Bacteria in the Soil that Need L ime They help to make plant food by working right in the soil without being attached to plant roots. These bacteria need lime as much as the ones on the roots of alfalfa and clover and beans. We don't know what all these bacteria do but they help plants to grow; some of them make humus out of roots and stubble and manure, and work them into plant food. When -we spread n load of manure — Or when we plow under a sod or stubble or a heavy growth of clover, rye or weeds; whenever we put vegetable matter on or in the soil, it is bacteria that works it into plant food. These bacteria won't work full time or full strength and mayba won't work at all in a soil that needs lime. Without bacteria the soil would be dead, would cease to produce and that would mean starvation for folks. Give the soil lime and we make it a good place for bacteria to work; then we get the full use of the manure and fertilizer and other plant food in the soil, then we can grow the right kind of plants. 19 Lime Makes Good Pastures Good pasture furnishes the best feed for live stock. Animals like good pasture, they thrive on it, they feed themselves. There has never been a better way found to keep live stock through the summer than to turn them on pasture. Good pasture means regular grass where the animals can get a mouth ■ ful without biting into the ground and pulling out part of the grass roots. There are millions of acres of rough and hilly land fit only for pasture. There are other millions of acres under cultivation which if converted into good pasture, would make us better off. Pastures need lime just as much as cultivated crops do. \\ e need legumes in the pasture to help keep the soil rich and to furnish bone and muscle feed, just as much as we need legumes in our crop rota- tions. We can't have good legumes in either pastures or cultivated fields without hme. There are millions of acres of so-called pastures, tramped out, chewed out, starved out, producing a few scraggly, weak plants, feeding a few hungry, undersized animals. These pastures with proper care, reseeding, fertilizing, and liming could without great outlay of cash be made into profitable fields. 20 Lime Makes Good Pastures Our greatest pastures, the ones on which our best breeds of animals have developed, the ones that furnish a complete ration for live stock, the ones that grow and fatten animals without an addition of grain feed, are pastures growing out of lime-rich soil. The blue grass pastures of Kentucky are famed the world over for the quality of their horses, cattle, hogs, and sheep. These pastures grow out of a soil naturally filled with lime. The pastures of Virginia and West Virginia that every year turn off prime, finished, fat steers that have eaten nothing but grass, also grow from soils full of lime. Wisconsin's, Illinois' and Iowa's famous Mineral Point limestone pastures have for 50 years fattened cattle with- out grain. Fattening on Mineral Point blue grass Great pastures grow only on lime-filled soils. These famous pasture lauds are valued at a high price per acre, yet the owners Ihink too much of them to plow them up. Some of us have a mistaken notion about land being too high priced for pas- lure. We need to cultivate fewer acres, and make some of our high priced land into real pastures instead of the sorry imitations that we have. We need to make our cheap, hilly lands into good pastures, then they won't be cheap. Just as much grass can be grown on a slope as on the level. We can make smy pasture good by giving it lime, plant food and proper care. 21 The Garden Needs Lime A good garden is worth five times as much per acre as any other cultivated spot on the farm. The garden should furnish us with a big part of our food, both summer and winter. Food from the garden is healthful and nourishiiiii. furnishing us lime and minerals which we must have, furnishing us roughage which we must have, and furnishing us all the laxatives and tonics that any- body needs. Practically all garden plants grow best in a lime soil. Cabbage, beans, cauliflower, peas, celery, parsnips, lettuce, onions, beets and nearly all garden crops need a lime soil. The garden needs manure. Remember that manure will not bring full returns unless the soil has lime. (See page 16.) Give the garden from 10 to 20 pounds of caustic or hydrate lime, or about twice that amount of finely ground limestone lo ihe square rod. Wood ashes are good for the garden because they contain lime and potash. (Seepages?.) The Lawn Needs Lime A well-kept lawn is llic nicest tiling tbat can be spread in front of and around any home. The best lawn grasses grow best where lime is in the soil. An application of lime on the lawn the same lis on the garden may make the grass grow^ and improve the appearance of our place 100 per cent. 22 The Orchard May Need Lime Trees will grow on sour soil if it has a fair amount of other plant food in it, yet thousands of fruit trees have starved on sour soil. Trees, to make a strong disease-resisting growth, must have fertile soil, and sour soils usually aren't fertile. Thousands of fruit trees have starved to death. ■M^wtHKBj^^d hMs, *■'.■■ ■?■'■ :■■■!' Mi' ' '.K ■ These peach trees in the Southern Indiana orchard of County Agent C. A. Richards show the unusual vigor resulting from the use of ground limestone and nitrate of soda. Mr. Richards says: "Where limestone was applied the trees are far superior to those where no limestone was applied. We intend to lime every inch of soil before we plant fruit trees in the future." When orchards aren't cultivated they should be mulched and as much mulch as possible should grow right in the orchard. An ap- plication of lime will help the or- chard grow clover for mulch. A dose of lime would make clover grow instead of these daisies and wild carrots, and clover mowed and spread thickly over the roots of a fruit tree will sure put life into it if it is not entirely dead. 23 Some Plants Grow Better than Others in Sour Soil Potatoes are sometimes said to grow better in sour soil. This opinion is based on the fact that lime in the soil encourages the growth of potato scab which damages the potatoes. Lime really makes the soil better for potatoes when there is no potato scab. Better put lime on the soil after the potato crop rather than before it. Watermelons, blackberries and a few other plants grow well in soils that contain but little lime, provid- ing the soil is otherwise fertile. Several of these plants are sometimes listed as needing but lilLle lime, but let's not forget that while these particular plants may need but little lime, the other plant food that they need and the condition of the soil that they must have may depend very much on lime. After all, lime is one important thing on which all useful plants depend eilher directly or indirectly. R_\e and timothy are examples of crops that make a fair growth on soils that do not contain much lime. This is not because these plants do not use lime, but because they ha\c feeding systems that can gatlier enough lime even when it is scarce in the soil. These plants grow better when there is plenty of lime in the soil. Lime is a weed fighter. Sonic weeds, such as horse sorrel, grow in sour soil. The main reason they gro« so well in sour soil is because useful plants won't make enough growth to crowd them out. Put on lime so wc can grow big crops of clovers and other useful plants and we will give the weeds a run for their lives. 24 We Don't Get All the Returns from Lime the First Year When we apply lime to the soil we are laying a foundation for good living and profit for years to come. Lime helps us to get a big growth of clover or other legumes with bacteria on the roots, gathering nitrogen. This makes the soil rich, full of roots and humus. When we plow the field after the legume crop we get a big yield of corn or cotton or some other culti- vated crop because the soil has been made rich. After the cultivated crop we get a big yield of oats or wheat in the rjtation. Then we have feed, and lots of it, for good live stock and, besides, have crops to sell. In addition, lime makes more and better grass grow in our pas- tures. The pasture grass lives longer, feeds more stock, stands the winter better, suffers less from tramping and starts earlier the nexL year. Besides this, lime makes the garden better, furnishing better food for us, particularly the boys and girls, giving them health and vim for the years ahead. When we get all these things with good markets, then it's our fault if we aren't prosperous and happy. A long train of good things surely follows the use of lime. '25 What Becomes of the Lime in our Soils? Every heavy rain leaches lime out of the soil. The soil in any country, where there is considerable rain- fall, is apt to get sour because of the leaching of lime through springs and drain tile and into streams and wells. If there's lime in the soil, there's usually lime in the w^ater coming from tile drains and springs. The crust that forms in the tea- kettle is made of lime that leaches into the water. In dry countries like this, where it rains only once in a long time and then very little, the soil is not apt to be sour. Every bushel and every forkful takes out lime. Any soil that is continuously cropped will in time grow deficient in lime, if lime is not supplied. Your farm may not need lime badly now but it likely will some da> if you don't supply some lime. Better be safe and put on lime before it gets so scarce that the crops show it. It may be a long time before your soil needs Hme, but wouldn't it be a good plan to try lime on a strip in each field to be sure whether or not it needs lime now? 26 Lime Keeps Leaching Away Some soils, such as those made out of sandstone, probably never did have enough lime in them to grow big crops. ^^ . ^^ 4fJ^'^ -r'-r^-^^ *» k \ -j-vj ^Vt J^^^^^Mi n ^ii&Trn-fcmTM \ ■ Some "new" soils that have never been farmed need lime when they are cleared or drained before they will grow good crops. Some soils that were made out of limestone and with ledges of limestone under them now lack Ume because of leaching and cropping. Some soils have lime in the subsoil that helps the crop when the roots get down to it. This accounts for alfalfa's sonietimes doing well when the roots get down into the subsoil. Some lime from the subsoil comes up by capillary action of water, but we can't depend much on that. The sure and safe way when the surface soil needs lime is to put lime on, no matter what the soil was originally made of. Life is too short to wait for crops to struggle down to the subsoil for lime. Better put lime on top and boost the crop along, then the roots will get to the lime subsoil sooner. 27 How Can We Tell When the Soil Needs Lime? The sure way to find out whether or not soil needs lime is to try lime on il. We can usually tell when the soil needs lime by the kind of vegetation that grows on it. When clovers and other legumes don't grow well, and moss and red- colored weeds and grass do grow, it's pretty sure that lime is needed. I^B^Ziw^iil^ J' ^ ^s m^B^^^^m^^^^^^^^^Bl^'* K^ UME ^^HhI ff^ hI H When we lime a strip in the field and find that it makes clover and other crops grow better, we have sure proof that the soil needs Ume. The litmus paper test is a good test to tell when the soil needs lime. 1. Get blue litmus paper at a drug store. Be sure to get blue. 2. Wet a sample of soil with soft water. Don't use hard water. 3. Make a mud ball of the wet soil. Don't make it too wet. 4. Break ball open, lay 5. Leave the strips 6. Open ball, look in two strips of litmus, of paper in the ball for at strips. They will press ball together. 15 or 20 minutes. tell if the soil is sour. If the strips of litmus paper turn pink or red the soil needs lime. The redder the paper turns the more lime is needed in the soil. It the paper remains blue the soil is sweet or neutral. (See next page.) Caution. Blue litmus paper turns red when it gets any acid on it, such as apple juice, or sweat from the fingers. Be careful that it touches only the soil. 28 Muriatic Acid Will Show if There Is Lime in the Soil If there is much lime in the soil we can always tell by pourir e muriatic acid on a sample of the soil. We can get muriatic (called tinner's acid) at any drug store. Pour a small quanti- ty of muriatic acid on a sample of soil and watch for "bubbles." If the soil bubbles it shows that there is lime in the soil. The more the soil bubbles the more lime in it. It is a good plan to first pour a little acid on some pure lime to see how it acts. Soil can have great quantities of lime in it and yet not bubble as much as pure lime whenacidis poured on il. With both litmus pa- per and muriatic acid we can tcU whether the soil is sour or whether it has lime in it. First try the litmus paper, if the paper doesn't turn red, try the acid to find the lime. The Truog test for soil acidity, much used by county agents, schools and others, was devised by Emil Truog of Wisconsin University. This test must be used strict- ly according to directions. Full description can be ob- tained by sending 10 cents to the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station for Bul- letin 312. Neutral Soil Some soils are neither sour nor sweet. They are called "neutral" soils. They have just enough lime in them to balance up the acids. Neutral soils produce some crops very well, but they grow clover and other legumes much better after they are limed. Ninety times out of 100 neutral soils will produce all crops better after they are limed. After all, the sure way to tell whether or not our soils need lime is to lime a strip in each field and watch the effect on the crops. 29 What Kind of Lime Shall We Use? Let's ask our County Agent or State Experiment Station. There are several forms of lime for sweetening soils. Ground limestone is one of the best forms to use on soil. 1 i ^ ^ Jg tk '^i^ '-' ■■"''3^^'^il^rt^s. . 1 1 ^^■n s ^^pS ^ ^K HI SB ^^^^ ^v |m| ipp .>^^X\^'>r i ^^ -SSi.^ Wi R 11 A ledge of limestone Limestone is the greatest source of agricultural lime. It is found in many parts of the country in ledges or stratas of varying tliickness. A limestone grinding plant in Illinois Ground limestone is produced commercially indifferent parts of the country by being quarried and ground and shipped by carload. Man> big plants are equipped with machinery for quarrying and grinding rock in a wholesale way. A portable limestone grinder at work Limestone can be ground on our own farm if we have a ledge of limestone. Portable grinders are in use on many farms. Farm Bureaus, and other farmers' organizations can have portable grinders owned and operated co-operatively. 30 Ground Limestone r arm Bureaus or other farmers' organizations or progressive citi- zens can install in the neighborhood where there is a ledge of limestone, a limestone grinding plant that will be the means of almost doubhng the crops for miles around. Lime grinder and storage bin of 200 tons capacity on the farm of C. A. Smith, Stciibenville, Ohio. Mr. Smith says: "I bought 1,000 acres that grew nothing but a few weeds and had been about aban- doned. One year ago I began spreading three or four tons of ground limestone to the acre on this land and now have 125 acres of fine clover and 25 acres of al- falfa and will soon have more." '^"^'^^^^S^^M Farm Bureau storage bin in Clear- field County, Pennsylvania, lo- cated at railroad switch with con- venient doors for loading in and out. Lime storage and warehouse of Farmers' Co-operative Exchange, Seottsville, Virginia. The lime bin has concrete floors and holds four cars of lime. Storage Bins for Limestone Mor-i storage bins are being built each year. By having the limestone in storage the small farmer as well as the large one can get limestone and he can get it when he wants it. Often the small farmer is unable to get hmestone because he is unable to buy it by the carload. The particular type of storage bin is not important. The main thing is to have a bin and have it located where the Kmestone can be unloaded into it easily and from it into wagons easily. There should be a scale to weigh the loads hauled away . The cost of a storage bin can be met by a levy of a few cents per ton on the limestone. We are willing to give a few cents extra in order to get Umestone when we want it. Who will build and operate the storage bin depends on the neighborhood. It y be the Farm Bijreau, or other farmer organization, the railroad, the bank. Whoever it may be, let's get busy and build the storage bin. 31 How Fine Should Limestone Be Ground? The finer limestone is ground the quicker its action in the soil, but it is not necessary to have it as fine as flour. These illustrations show some of the different sizes of mesh in screen used in describing the fineness of ground limestone. Quarter-mesh T e n - m e s h Twenty-mesh Forty-mesh screen means four screen means 10 screen means 20 screen means 40 meshes or wires meshes or wires to meshes or wires meshes or wires to the inch. the inch. to the inch. to the inch. Many experiments have shown that ground limestone, which will pass through a 10-mesh screen, gives excellent results when applied liberally. When it will all pass through a 10-mesh screen, a large per cent of it will pass through a 50-mesh screen. The fine particles will act quickly in the soil and the coarser parts will become available later. The Illinois Experiment Station found that course ground lime- stone which would pass through a quarter-mesh but not a 10-mesh screen, gave as good results in a few years after being applied as fine- ground limestone did. Most of us would not want to wait so long for the coarse stone to become available. We Avould grind it a little finer. Limestoni^ screenings, in- cluding the dust and very fine particles will supply lime to the soil. We would need to put on a heavy application on sour soil so as to get enough fine stuff to act at once. The coarse pieces will be a long Limestone screenings time in becoming available. Limestone screenings;, or very coEU'se ground limestone should be purchased at a very reasonable price, and we should not have to haul them far. If we can't get the coarse material cheap and handy we had better use the finer ground stone. Read next page. 32 How Much Ground Limestone to the Acre? The amount we put on depends on how sour the soil is and how fine the rock IS ground. On a field as sour as this one, that has been farmed until clover won't prow, we would put on at least two tons to the acre of ground limestone that would pass through a 10-mesh screen. We might put on more if the price were attractive and the haul short, or if we were grinding it ourselves. If we had to haul the limestone six or eight railes over the hills, or if the roads were muddy or rough, we likely wouldn't put on so much to the acre as when it was handy, and we would want the limestone ground fine so it would take immediate effect. There is one thing about ground limestone — we can put on very heavy applications and do no harm to the soil. Ask the County Agent or Ebcperiment Station how much to use. 33 Quick Lime and Hydrate Lime Quick lime is also called caustic lime. Both quick lime and hydrate lime are produced by burning or heating limestone. Here's the way they are made: ONE-TON LIMESTONE 1120 LBS QUICK LIME 1480 LB5. HYDRATE LIMi Here's one ton of raw limestone fresh from the quarry. If we grind it, it's "ground limestone." We heat or burn the ton of limestone which drives out the carbon, leaving 1120 pounds of quick lime. We steam or water the quick lime until it weighs about 14JI0 pounds. It's then hy- drate lime. One kind will furnish lime for the soil as well as the olher. Only il takes a little more hydrate lime than it does quick lime to furrish the same amount of lime to the soil, and it takes about twice as much ground limestone as it does of quick lime. Caustic linte cannot be stored satisfactorily for any length of lime as it will slack and is apt to burst containeis. Hydrate lime can be stored satisfactorily. 1 1 should be kept dry. Quick lime and hydrate lime are prepared commercially in big kilns and hydrating plants. After burning, the caustic lime is usually ground and sacked for shipment. Caustic lime is sometimes shipped as "lump lime" in barrels. The opinion that caustic lime is injurious to soil has been much overworked. Any bad effects that might result from a reasonable application of caustic lime are more than offset by the good resulting. How Much to the Acre? From one to two tons of quick or hydrate lime to the acre will be enough to put on most any soil. Good results have followed the using of much smaller amounts, but we must put it on oftener when small amounts are used. (See page 43.) 34 Home Made Lime Kiln Quick lime can be produced on any farm where there is a supply of limestone, and wood or coal plentiful for fuel. Here's the way an old fashioned lime kiln is made. Wood can be used instead of coal. 1. Make foundation of logs or scrap timber. Fillin between logs with Uindling. Leave nar- row opening through foundation for "fire place." Set up board flue in center. Fill the "fire place" loosely with fine kindling. 2. On this founda- tion place a six-inch layer of fine coal, slack or wood kindling. Put plenty of dry, fine kind- ling around lo'wer end of flue. A foundation 15 by 20 feet should burn about 400 bushels of lime. 3. Then put on a layer of about one foot of limestone. Spread over the stone enough coal to cover it so the entire surface appears black. It takes almost one-half as much coal as stone. Don't have the stone too large. 4. Put on alternate layers of coal and stone until the kiln is topped out. A little less coal can be used between the upper layers of stone. 5. Bank or smooth the outside of the kUn with coal, then cover the entire kUn above the foundation with three or four inches of car th . 6. Set fire to the kindling in the fire place and add fuel until the kiln is thoroughly afire. It will take from one to two weeks to burn. When the kiln is burned we have a mixture of quick lime and ashes valuable to furnish lime for soil. It may be necessary to patch the layer of earth on the outside of the kiln, as it burns and holes break through. Sometimes the flue in the center is closed, when the kiln is thor- oughly afu-e, to keep it from burning too rapidly. Home-made kilns are sometimes built by digging into a hill and walling up the kiln with brick or sandstone. 35 Marl Coiirl-csy Micliigrin Agricultuml College. A Michigan marl bed Marl is a form of soft limestone that has settled in low places and in the beds of streams. It is found in various forms. It may be almost powder or in lumps mixed with small rocks and shells. When wet it often looks like blue clay. Don't mistake blue clay for marl. Try it with muriatic acid. (See page 29.) Marl mixed with shells and stones should be ground before spreading on the soil. Some- times all that is nei'essary is to mash up the lumps with the back of a shovel. The value of dry marl depends on the amount of lime in it. Usually we should apply more marl to the acre than we do of ground limestone. Shells jfT^, .y'^^^ frw.?^