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.





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.