PEAS FOR DRY-FARMING 249 



Alfalfa is a leguminous crop and gathers nitrogen 

 from the air. It is therefore a good fertilizer. The 

 question of soil fertihty will become more important 

 with the passing of the years, and the value of lucern 

 as a land improver will then be more evident than it 

 is to-day. 



Other leguminous cj'ops 



The group of leguminous or pod-bearing crops is of 

 great importance ; first, because it is rich in nitroge- 

 nous substances which are valuable animal foods, and, 

 secondly, because it has the power of gathering ni- 

 trogen from the air, which can be used for maintain- 

 ing the fertility of the soil. Dry-farming will not be 

 a wholly safe practice of agriculture until suitable 

 leguminous crops are found and made part of the 

 crop system. It is notable that over the whole of the 

 dry-farm territory of this and other countries wild 

 leguminous plants flourish. That is, nitrogen-gather- 

 ing plants are at work on the deserts. The farmer 

 upsets this natural order of things by cropping the 

 land with wheat and wheat only, so long as the land 

 will produce profitably. The leguminous plants 

 native to dry-farm areas have not as yet been sub- 

 jected to extensive economic study, and in truth very 

 little is known concerning leguminous plants adapted 

 to dry-farming. 



In California, Colorado, and other dry-farm states 

 the field pea has been grown with great profit. In- 



