88 



AGRICULTURE 



flower of each of these consists of (i) a broad petal 

 standing up somewhat like the wings of a butterfly at 

 rest, (2) a folded portion that reminds us of the butter- 

 fly's body, and (3) a petal standing up straight and alone 

 on each side of the folded part. The leaves of common 



leguminous plants are com- 

 pound, that is, made up of 

 several smaller parts called 

 leaflets (Fig. 55). The seeds 

 are in pods that split along 

 both edges when ripe. 



You will quickly see that 

 garden peas, cowpeas, sweet- 

 peas, locust trees, and some 

 plants called weeds have 

 blossoms of this shape. The 

 clovers have very different 

 heads, more like the shape 

 of the end of a finger. Each 

 clover head is not a single 

 flower, however, but a mass 

 of dozens of tiny flowers. 

 Each of the little flowers 

 has the same general shape as the pea blossom. Plants 

 on which the flowers are of this shape are found to make 

 the soil richer. These plants have bean-like pods (Fig. 59). 

 Tubercles or nodules on the roots of legumes. Care- 

 fully dig up cowpea, clover, and other legumes without 

 stripping off the smaller roots. Do you not find little 

 round or pear-shaped knots attached to the roots? This 



FIG. 56. TUBERCLES ON ROOTS OF 

 COWPEAS. (See also Fig. 65.) 



