Rural School Leaflet. 



723 



see are mere common horses of no particular type, and are used for a 

 great variety of purposes. These common horses have not been bred true 

 to any type, but are oftentimes the result of crossing the various types 

 mentioned, or are descendants of common horses. They are not so effi- 

 cient for any given purpose, and are not so valuable as though bred true 

 to a given type. 



Lesson XIX 



LEGUMES AS FOOD 



By G. F, Warren 



Object. — To study the value of legumes as food. 



In former lessons we have learned that nitrogen is one of the very 

 important plant-foods, and that leguminous plants are able to secure a 



Fig. 49. — A driving horse. 



part of their nitrogen from the air. provided the proper bacteria are 

 present for the formation of the nodules on the roots. 



All plants can take nitrogen from the compounds in the soil. Legumes 

 are no exception. They have two ways of obtaining nitrogen ; hence, we 

 will not be surprised to learn that they contain a higher percentage of it 

 than do other plants. A very common error is to suppose that because 

 legumes can obtain some nitrogen from the air, they do not need much of 

 it in the soil or fertilizer. Nearly all legumes require a rich soil for their 

 successful growth. They have two ways of getting nitrogen, and can live 

 by either way alone, but need both ways in order to produce good crops. 



The following table shows the percentage of nitrogen and protein in a 

 few crops. The first two are legumes. 



