CHAPTER VIII
SPECIAL CROP DEMANDS
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.
Remarkable Effect of Lime on Sweet Clover at the Ohio Experiment Station
