4 Composition of the Yellow Lupine, 



in this country. Mr. Crisp speaks very highly of their import- 

 ance to the farmer, and strongly commends their cultivation 

 to the notice of the occupiers of light sandy soils. This recom- 

 mendation has not been made in vain ; and I have now the 

 pleasure of communicating the results of an experimental trial 

 undertaken by my friend and former pupil, Mr. James Kimber, 

 of Tubney Warren, Oxfordshire. 



At my request, and in answer to many questions relating to 

 the cultivation, and practical feeding value of lupines, the charac- 

 ter of his land, &c., Mr. Kimber has kindly addressed to me a 

 letter, which contains much valuable information on these and 

 a few other topics interesting to the practical agriculturist. 



I make no apology for appending to this paper Mr. Kimber's 

 interesting communication, assured that it will be read with plea- 

 sure and profit by many who have to deal with poor, sandy 

 land, on which clover will not grow even once in eight years, 

 turnips either fail altogether or become affected by anbury and 

 fingers-and-toes, and on which it is next to impossible to grow 

 a fair average corn-crop. 



The detailed account given by Mr. Kimber relieves me of 

 the necessity of myself describing the experimental trial. But 

 I may observe that the trial was intended to test the comparative 

 merits of lupines as a green food and as a crop grown for the 

 sake of its seed. 



Unfortunately the dry weather at the time of sowing in the 

 spring, and the subsequent cold and wet summer, so much re- 

 tarded the blossoms that all hope of carrying out the experi- 

 ments as originally intended had to be given up. The seeds of 

 the lupine ripen very unequally, especially in wet seasons, when 

 it is not unusual to see almost ripe seed-pods and yellow blossoms 

 on the same plant. Though a quantity of ripe seed-pods were 

 gathered, yet by far the larger portion of the plants did not ripen 

 their seed this season, and therefore the experiment was neces- 

 sarily confined to testing the feeding value of the green lupines, 

 as well as this could be done in one season, by weighing the 

 produce in green food, and ascertaining its chemical composition. 



The lupine plants submitted to analysis were cut down on the 

 24th of September. They were nearly 4 feet high and full of 

 yellow blossoms. The lower part of the central stem was hard 

 and woody, so much so that sheep would not have eaten it. The 

 tops were quite soft and succulent, and there were plenty of 

 leaves and tender side-shoots on the central stems. 



It appeared to me desirable to ascertain by weight the portion 

 of the plants which would probably be rejected by animals, and 

 that likely to be consumed by them. 



1 therefore detached the leaves and soft tops from the woody 



