ii8 



DOLICHOS LABLAB (bONAVIS BEAn) 



white or violet in colour. The pods are flat, curved, short 

 and wrinkled, and generally contain three flat seeds of oval 

 form, which difi'er from other peas in being capped with 

 a white hilum. They are from ri to i"4 cm. in length; 

 ID grm. usually contain from fifty to fifty-five seeds. 



Both dwarf and climbing varieties are found. The two 

 dwarf races have violet and white flowers respectively, with 

 white seeds. The latter has been collected in America in 

 1904, and forms low, compact tufts, similar to those of the 

 dwarf pea, whence project long erect spikes provided with 

 a great number of large, odorous flowers of pure white. 



Those just described make excellent cover crops ; they 

 may be kept up year after year, when they yield a large and 

 continuous supply of produce. Such is the method of their 

 use in the North of Africa. 



The climbing varieties cannot be grown through canes, 

 as owing to the manner in which they spread they would 

 injure the growth of the young canes. This drawback was 

 demonstrated in a trial made at the Agronomic Station. 

 The plants were sturdy, green, and of large size, but the 

 canes were spoiled. 



Planted every second row, they yielded, when in flower, 

 10,470 kilos of green forage to the h^ectare. The stems and 

 leaves form an excellent fodder, their composition being 

 as follows : — 



The mineral composition of the stems and leaves shows 

 about the same content as regards fertilizing elements as 

 that of other peas : — 



