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have been better made, the horses become more powerful, andtheir tackle in better order. The reports with respect to limingare, however, contradictory. While some have discovered thatrepeated limings are ineffectual, liming is carried on in some dis-tricts with more ardour * than ever ; and the farmers of the Carseof dowry, in particular, continue to repeat the application oflime with scarce any suspicion of its having lost its influence.While some teach that lime has its chief effect by operating onorganized matter lodged in the soil, others report that it has hadvery little effect on land which had been long under a course ofdunging and cropping. And among the many reports of the be-nefit of liming, some affirm that they have applied lime withoutany visible effect, and some that their crops have been burnt orinjured by it. But, in the midst of these Contrarieties, it may besafely concluded, from the concurrent testimony of the differentreports, that to derive the greatest benefit from the applicationof lime, the land should be completely freed from the excess ofwater—that the lime should be intimately mixed with the othersubstances of which the soil is composed—that its effect is alwaysgreatest on neglected ground, when first taken under culture—that without the application of it, such ground has not beeabrought to the same degree of fertility by other means—that theground thus fertilized, by too long a succession of tillage crop*is greatly exhausted, becoming unproductive as well of grass asof corn, and cannot, without the utmost difficulty be restored toits former state—that lime has greater effect on cohesive than oaloose and friable soils, and consequently a greater dose, or morefrequent repetitions, may, with the prospect of success, be ap-plied to the former than the latter—that on loose soils repetitionsof liming are of doubtful effect, and should he used only at dis-tant periods, and after the land has lain for some time in pasture—that lime, mixed with other substances, to separate the partsof the earthy and rot the organized, may be successfully appliedon land, where alone it would have no effect: and one half ofthe lime used alone is sufficient for the mixture. Such are thephenomena which have been observed to attend the applicationof lime to the soil. Several of the gentlemen who have returnedreports to the Board of Agriculture, have exhibited very ingeni-ous theories to account for these. But as the postulate whichthey assume are different, their conclusions are also opposite;and need not be stated here.
Marl, though principally deemed valuable on account of thecalcareous matter it contains, is described to have operations asa manure somewhat different from those of lime, and requires tobe separately considered. Three sorts have been found in Scot-
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*■ East jLothian Report