Special Crop Demands
from Right Use Of Lime In Soil Improvement
Lime-Loving Crops. There are plants which are acid-resistant, giving a
good return for fertilization and care when the soil is sour. There are
a few kinds of cultivated plants that seem to prefer an acid soil, and
to resent lime applications. Most staple crops prefer an alkaline soil,
or at least one that has no large requirement, and there are plants that
thrive best only in land rich in lime. Not all such plants require more
as a component part of their structure, but do have a high percentage in
their ash.
Liming for Alfalfa. When all other conditions are right, alfalfa
thrives or fails according as a soil is rich in lime or is distinctly
deficient. It is entirely possible to get fair yields of this legume for
a short time from land that is not fully alkaline, but full yields and
ability to last for a term of years depend upon a liberal lime supply.
Alfalfa is at home only in a naturally calcareous soil, or one that has
been given some of the characteristics of such land by free use of
lime. In the case of neutral or slightly acid ground it is good practice
to mix four tons of limestone per acre thoroughly with the soil. Such
treatment gives greater permanence to the seeding, enabling the plants
to compete successfully with the wild grasses and other weeds that are
the chief obstacle to success in the humid climate of our Mississippi
valley and eastern states. When this amount of stone is used, the finest
grade may not be preferred to material having a considerable percentage
of slightly coarser grains.
Red Clover. When land is in excellent tilth, it may grow red clover
satisfactorily while showing a decided lime deficiency. On the other
hand, much slightly acid land fails to grow clover, and an application
of lime is followed by heavy growths. Red clover is most at home in
calcareous soils, and lack of lime is a leading cause of clover failure
in this country. Other causes may be important ones in the absence of
lime and be overcome when it is present.
Alsike Clover. Most legumes like lime, and alsike clover is not an
exception, but is far more acid-resistant than the red. It is less
valuable, both for soil improvement and for forage, having an inferior
root system, but has proved a boon to farmers in areas that have been
losing the power to grow red clover. The custom of mixing red and alsike
seed has become widespread, and distinctly acid soils are marked in the
clover flowering season by the profusion of the distinctive alsike bloom
to the exclusion of the red. While there is acid-resistant power, this
clover responds to liming.
Crimson Clover. Among lime-loving plants crimson clover has a rightful
place, but it makes fairly good growth where the lack of lime is marked.
Bluegrass. The heaviest bluegrass sods are found where lime is
abundant in the soil. This most valuable pasture grass may withstand the
encroachments of weeds for a long time when lime is not abundant, if
plant food is not in scant supply, but dependable sods of this grass are
made only in an alkaline soil. Heavy liming of an acid soil pays when a
seeding to permanent pasture is made, and old sods on land unfit for
tillage may be given a new life by a dressing.
Crops Favored by Lime. Nearly all staple farm crops respond to
applications given acid soils. Corn, oats, timothy, potatoes and many
other crops have considerable power of resistance to acids, but give
increased yields when lime is present. Liming is not recommended for
potatoes because it furnishes conditions favorable to a disease which
attacks this crop. When clover is wanted in a crop rotation with
potatoes, it is advisable to apply the lime immediately after the potato
crop has been grown, and to use limestone rather than burned lime. Most
kinds of vegetables thrive best in an alkaline soil.
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