Inoculating the Ground 



2 2 



Tubercles of Velvet Bean Produced by Inoculation (Natural size) 



The peculiar clusters on the roots are formed by innumerable minute bacteria. 

 They absorb the free nitrogen in the air and put it back into the soil 



A fair average of the number of pounds of nitrogen added per acre to soil by 

 leguminous crops is about 200 pounds, which, of course, is in addition to the large 

 amount of nitrogen removed in the leguminous crop. This is what makes it so 

 advisable to include a legume in any crop rotation, as the following crop gets the 

 benefit of all the nitrogen left in the soil. The following list will give some idea 

 of the gain in crops grown after legumes as compared with those grown upon the 

 same kind of soil with fertilizers not containing nitrogen : 



Cotton gained 372 pounds per acre Oats 35.2 bushels 



Potatoes 34.4 bushels Wheat 8.3 bushels 



