THE LUPINE CROP. 



ANOTHER member of the leguminous family has lately been 

 introduced to us as a forage plant the LUPINE, which, 

 however, although new to this country, has been in culti- 

 vation on the Continent for many years past, and, indeed, 

 was well known to the Romans, being mentioned in the 

 works of several of their agricultural authors. In this 

 country the lupine has long been known as an ornamental 

 flower plant in our gardens, but until quite recently, has 

 never been grown as a regular " Forage Crop." 



On the Continent, however, where the climate is 

 generally more suitable for leguminous plants, and where 

 large tracts of light sandy soils are met with, requiring a 

 special cultivation, the lupine has been grown for a long 

 period, and made use of either as a forage plant, or 

 for ploughing in as a green manurial substance, according 

 to the requirements of the district or farm on which it was 

 cultivated. For this latter purpose its habit of growth 

 particularly adapts it, as its long tap-root strikes at once 

 deep into the lower strata, and brings up from the sub- 

 soil the mineral ingredients necessary for its own develop- 

 ment, which are then left to decompose and enrich the 

 surface or agricultural soil, and are thus placed immediately 

 within the reach of the shallower rooted crops for which 

 it is intended to be a preparation. 



Lupines, of which there are many distinct species, 

 belong to the order LEGUMINOS^, of which they con- 

 stitute the genus LUPINUS. Several of these species are 

 cultivated as field crops in different parts of the Continent. 

 In this country what little has been grown has been 



