SECTION III 

 LEGUMINOUS VEGETABLES 



ESUMINOUS vegetablesPeas, Beans, etc. are not 

 only valuable as a nourishing article of food for human 

 consumption, but they also contribute to the soil in 

 which they grow a large share of its fertility. The roots of 

 legumes have a natural habit of collecting and storing nitrogen, 

 which may be seen in the shape of small nodules clinging to 

 the roots when pulled from the ground. The strange fact also 

 remains that, although nitrogen is stored up in this manner and 

 rendered available as food for the plants, the latter actually 

 require a further supply, given artificially, to ensure heavy 

 crops. This may be explained by the affinity which leguminous 

 vegetables have for nitrogen, enabling them to absorb a large 

 amount of this chemical without causing undue growth, which 

 would be the case with many other subjects; the surplus, it 

 would appear, being stored by the roots in the most convenient 

 manner. Be this as it may, the peculiar trait is a wise pro- 

 vision of Providence bearing upon the manurial development 

 of the soil ; and the cultivator may have the certain and satis- 

 factory knowledge that the more such plants are grown in his 

 garden, the larger an amount of stimulating, sustaining food is 

 being placed in the soil. It is beneficial, then, for the roots 

 especially of leguminous crops to remain in the soil after the 

 crop is cleared ; they should never be thrown aside or burnt, 

 but buried and dug in with the earth after the manner of ordinary 

 organic manure. The haulms, too, should be burnt and the 

 ashes returned to the soil, for they contain valuable chemical 

 food substances. It will also be seen that if nitrogen-loving 

 crops, such as Greenstuffs, Spinach, or Lettuces, be planted 

 in succession to Peas and Beans, great advantage will accrue 

 from the supplies of nitrogen existing in the soil. Deep digging, 



45 



