262 USE OF THE LEGUMINOS^ FROM 



and no longer lays up stores of nitrogen. One portion of 

 the original plants remained and the other was replaced by 

 the sowing which was naturally effected by the seeds which 

 escaped from the unharvested pods. 



We have observed, by means of experiments, that the 

 flowering periods of various peas sown in November are 

 as follows : — 



There exists a prejudice in regard to the cultivation of 

 Leguminosae which, in the interest of agriculturists desirous 

 of improving their land, we must endeavour to combat. 



Because the Leguminos^ are plants which enrich the 

 soil, numbers of people imagine that they stand in no need 

 of farmyard or mineral manure, and that thev are able to 

 grow in any plot of ground whatsoever. When analysis 

 has shown that the ash of Leguminos^e contains more lime, 

 potash, and phosphoric acid than that of the Graminae, it 

 means their requirements in these elements are greater than 

 those of other plants; in the same way they are extremely 

 sensitive as regards the composition of the soils in which they 

 are intended to grow. Black matter, or matter containing 

 humus, is a great source of profit to them, and if some 

 planters have been unsuccessful with their sowings of peas 

 the reason often lies in the poverty of the soil, which might 

 and should have been supplied with phosphoric acid and 

 potash, &c. 



Of two adjacent plots sown on the same day, i.e., 

 November 8th, 1908, with Phaseolus helvolus, both of which 



