104 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



nitrogen, from the air that is in the soil, and stores 

 it in nodules on the roots, and in the stems and 

 leaves. Plowing under such a crop adds to the 

 soil the best possible green manure. After the 

 nuts are taken off the dry plants are as rich stock 

 food as clover hay. The hulls of the nuts are 

 better than coarse hay. The cake left after press- 

 ing the oil out of the nuts is as good for fattening 

 stock as cottonseed meal and linseed meal. It has 

 three times the richness of corn. All kinds of 

 stock like the taste of peanuts, and thrive on the 

 food, green or dry. 



The farmer has every reason to bless the slave 

 trader who imported the peanut, for it brings mill- 

 ions of dollars to his pocket every year, and the 

 refuse feeds his stock, which makes it, indirectly, 

 a money crop. The elements of nitrogen, phos- 

 phoric acid, and potash, in which the plant is rich, 

 finally go back to the soil in the barnyard manure, 

 thus saving money which would otherwise have 

 to be spent for other fertilizers. 



ALMONDS 



Strangest of all the stone fruits is the almond, 

 for its flesh dries away into a leathery husk that 

 cracks open when ripe to free the pit. We do not 

 throw away the pit of the almond as we do that of 



