CHAPTER XX 

 LEGUMES AND OTHER FORAGE PLANTS 



LEGUMES occupy as important a place in the ration of the 

 inhabitants and live stock of the Tropics and in the fertility 

 of the tropical soils as is filled by these plants in northern 

 climates. Many of the familiar legumes of the United States 

 are found growing to some extent in most tropical countries, 

 but the list of leading legumes in the Tropics is quite differ- 

 ent from that of the United States. In tropical countries 

 there is much greater predominance of leguminous trees and 

 shrubs. Many of the large forest and ornamental trees are 

 leguminous. One need only mention tamarind, Poinciana, 

 algaroba, and the numerous species of Acacia, Cassia, Albiz- 

 zia, and Pterocarpus, as well as the numerous shrubby and 

 half-shrubby legumes of lesser economic importance. 



A great variety of native grasses are used for various 

 economic purposes in the Tropics. There are certain species 

 of grasses, however, which have become of almost world-wide 

 distribution, at least in tropical countries, and attention is 

 given in this chapter chiefly to these important species of 

 almost universal distribution rather than to the innumerable 

 native species of grass which are locally utilized for grazing 

 or forage purposes. 



There is also a rather large list of miscellaneous forage 

 plants and products which merit some attention. In the Ori- 

 ental Tropics nothing is wasted. The American farmer has 

 little conception of the painstaking economy of the Oriental. 

 The strictest economy practiced by the most up-to-date Ameri- 

 can farmer would appear to the Oriental to be little less than 



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