USE OF THE LEGUMINOS^ 259 



shorter period, a mass of green matter, in the shape of 

 fodder or manure, considerably higher than that of any 

 leguminous plant of the temperate zone. 



At the same time it should not be supposed that the 

 effect of the Leguminosse was completely unknown before 

 M. Desbassyns' period, i.e., 1816. Cossigny, in his treatise 

 " Moyens d'amelioration des colonies," published in 1802,. 

 relates that the colonists of Teneriffe also sowed a number 

 of plants to enrich the soil and to take the place of manure : 

 the bean, vetch, lentil, and especially lupin, which, accord- 

 ing to Columella, produced better results than any other 

 plants. Some agriculturists ploughed their fields after the 

 harvest and so buried the stems, roots and leaves remaining 

 on the surface. 



Others, who were wiser, turned over the soil with the 

 plough whilst the plants were still growing, burying them 

 whole. In this way the soil was provided with an excellent 

 manure. They were also sown around sick trees and sickly 

 vines in order to invigorate them. Others again made up 

 a decoction which they spread around fruit trees. This 

 latter method was regarded as particularly efficacious. 



The cultivation of Leguminosas responds to three different 

 needs on the part of the agriculturist, which depend on the 

 varying conditions in different localities. In the colonies 

 where, one may say, no attention is paid to anything but 

 the sugar-cane, the Leguminosae are only regarded as restora- 

 tive plants which enrich the soil, where they grow, in organic 

 matter, humus, and nitrogen, and choke the weeds which 

 would overrun the land if peas, cowpeas, or indigos were 

 not grown to check them. 



We do not believe that all the advantages that agri- 

 culturists, from remotest times, have derived from the culti- 

 vation of Leguminosse reside solely in the fixation of 

 atmospheric nitrogen and the enrichment of the arable layer 

 in this element. And this, notwithstanding the fact that 

 nitrogen is so invaluable for the production of fine crops. 



