Show apply limestone year in hi advance has better chance to be available for plant plant use tse of many crops to get the most for our money spent for limestone for clover fields growers should apply it at least a year in advance of seeding UK clover or alt alfalfa affa to do this many farmers aria are applying lime this winter to land that will be bd used for corn next spring in I 1 an a year they plan to seed their alfalfa or clover reports C J chapman soils bolls specialist list at the wisconsin college of agriculture mixes lime lima with soil all chapman finds this a good practice tor for the cultivation of the corn during I 1 ng the growing season tends to mix the lime thoroughly the soli soil and puts the land in excellent condition for seeding the following spring some wisconsin farmers are also up applying I 1 ying ground limestone or other othe r forms of agricultural lime as a top dressing to liny hay lands or pasture chapman says but its effectiveness when used this way is negligible until the soil has been worked up the second time line ground limestone becomes available only through reactions react lona with still soil adds it ignot Is not soluble in water and in order to act with melds acids tt it must come in contact with soil particles he says when lime la Is applied on pasture or hay finy lands it does not become mixed to any extent with surface soil it to la plowed under tinder when the land Is fitted for corn or small grain and it Is not until the land Is again plowed that the lime Is turned back to the surface and worked into the soll SOIL effective agents air slaked lime finely pulverized marl wood ashes paper mill sludge and finely ground limestone are effective the first year when they are ap plied piled in sufficient fent amounts and thoroughly worked into the soil by dishing and drugging dragging the finer the Itin limestone estone Is ground and the more thoroughly it Is worked into the soil within the ille surface six or eight inches the faster it will react with soil adds acids and the more effective it will be in in supplying lime to growing crops and correcting the acidity |