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LUPINES BUCKWHEAT COTTON 



or four seeds in each pod. The seeds are used as human food, and 

 very largely for the extraction of arachis oil, of which they contain 

 from 40 to 54 per cent. The foliage makes good hay. 



Lentils (Lens esculenta) furnish seeds which are valued for 

 culinary purposes, while the "vines" form a good fodder for cattle. 



Lupines (Lupinus spp.) are more often used as green manure 

 than as food, since they contain a bitter alkaloidal substance which is 

 distasteful and may be poisonous. Three species, viz., white (Lupinus 

 albus), blue (L. hirsutus or angustifolius) and yellow (L. luteus), 

 are chiefly used. They grow well in sandy soils, and when 

 ploughed in, furnish large additions of organic matter rich in nitrogen. 



The characteristic of leguminous crops their power of obtaining 

 nitrogen from the air, by the aid of bacteria inhabiting nodules on their 

 roots has already been described. 



The following analyses will show the general composition of 

 leguminous seeds : 



1 Inclusive of fibre. 



(c) Miscellaneous Seeds. Buckwheat (Polygonum fagopyrum) 

 is largely grown in the warmer parts of Europe and America, the seed 

 being used largely for poultry food and also in cattle and pig feeding. 

 It is also used for human food in the form of meal. Its flowers yield 

 much honey to bees, and when cut green it yields an excellent fodder. 



Cotton (Gossypium herbaceum) is largely grown for its lint and 

 seed. It requires a warm climate, and does best when frequent rains 

 and a damp atmosphere prevail during its early stages of growth, and 

 hot dry weather during the ripening of the seed. 



The seed is enveloped in the lint contained in a boll, which is about 

 the size of a hen's egg. About 300 Ib. of lint and 650 Ib. of seed per 

 acre is the usual crop in America. 



The seed is very nitrogenous and contains from 20 to 30 per cent 



