%>

72 Chap. XII. Appendix, Part 4. No. 1,

regard it as a matter of indifference whether it be mixed with thesoil in a quick or effete state, provided it be not so much wetand clotted as not to mix intimately, which is generally admit-ted to be of the greatest importance. It is applied at all periodsof a course of cropping; but is thought by some to have besteffect when applied most recently after the land has been bro-ken up from grass. Lime is sometimes mixed with mould, withweeds, with peat-moss, &c.; and after being incorporated withthese, spread on the ground; and in this way has been found tohave greater effect in promoting fertility than when used alone.

The effects attributed to the application of lime are different,in different districts. It is said by some to be the foundation ofall improvement: *—it strengthens and enlarges the stem ;—itmakes the grain more firm, more plump, and more productive ofmeal ; f its effects on new grounds which have lain wild are re-ported to be astonishing, exciting a course of luxuriant crops onfields which without it would scarce have produced any. On ste-rile peat moss, its effects have been equally striking. J Obdu-rate clay soils, by repeated applications of it, have been mademore pliant and friable, and hence suffered less from vicissitudesof rain and drought, and yielded more certain returns, and havebeen more susceptible of improvement from after culture andmanure. § Lime has been found favourable to the growth ofpeas, plentiful returns of grain having been produced on landwhich yielded only straw before liming. It has been found tohave the same effect in promoting the growth of other of theDiadelphia tribe, such as red and white clover, hop, trefoil, &c.which never succeed on some soils till they have been well limed.||Rye grass also, and all the native esculent grasses are more pro-ductive, and are eaten with more avidity on limed land. Whenlime has been plentifully spread on old pastures, and allowed tolie on the surface for two or more years, very large crops of grainhave been produced ; and the land, when moderately cropped,and returned to grass, left in a state of permanent fertility fiveor six times intrinsically superior to its former condition. Onsuch grounds the crop, though luxuriant, has been observed tobe later in arriving at maturity than on similar ground not limed.But repeated applications of lime have seldom been found so be-neficial as the first. Hence it has been recommended to increasethe dose on a second application ; not to lime a second time at ashorter period than 16 or 18 years after the first; and to dung re-peatedly in that interval. After all, the most prevalent testimonyis, that the second liming has less fertilizing effect than the first,and the third sometimes scarcely discernible ; though it is certaiifthat husbandmen have applied lime less sparingly as the roads

* Berwickshire Report. f Linlithgowshire Report.

^ Ayrshire Report. § Clydesdale Report, |j Fifeshire Report-