AGRICULTURE. 



LEGUMINOUS FAMILY (Leguminosce). 

 Common pea. Common red clover, 



Common string bean, White or Dutch clover, 



Lima bean, Alsike or Swedish clover, 



Horse or Windsor bean, Crimson or scarlet clover, 



Common vetch or tare, Mammoth red clover, 



Common lentil, Lucerne or alfalfa, 



Lupines, Peanut or ground nut. 



From this list of plants we see that the family is large and 

 important. In addition there are many weeds belonging to 

 this same family. To speak of clovers as being grasses is bot- 



anically incorrect, since in 

 form or shape and in mode 

 of growth they are entirely 

 different. The most notice- 

 able difference is in the 

 shape of blossoms. The 

 leaves also are different in 

 shape and in arrangement. 

 Contrast a plant of clover 

 with a plant of timothy or 

 wheat. The stalks also are 

 different, and the roots are 

 quite different. Pull up a 

 large red clover or pea plant, 

 and also a wheat plant, and 

 contrast their roots. Which is the more fibrous and matted? The 

 clovers send their roots deeper into the soil. Observe, also, the 

 little knots, or balls, or tubercles on the clover roots. These 

 tubercles play a very important part in the nourishment of the 

 leguminous plants. They are filled with many little living 

 parasites, something like yeast cells, that grow and feed upon 

 the free nitrogen of the air, from it forming compounds that 

 help to nourish the plants. Now we have already mentioned 



Fig. 35 Root of a legume showing knots 

 or nodules or tubercles. 



