984 The Value of Lupins on Poor Light Land. [Jan., 



General. — It is worthy of note that Boodt* states that in 

 Drente (North Holland) a gravel soil poor in humus and plant 

 food is chosen for lupins. This soil in the late summer becomes 

 so dry that the lupin plant dies about the middle of August. 

 Better land is not suitable in Holland, because, especially in a 

 Avet summer, the plant continues growing too long, and its seed 

 never ripens. In Schouvv^en, lupins are grown on the poorest 

 and worst soils at the foot of the dunes. 



Provided sufficient moisture is present, the plant makes a 

 most luxuriant grow^th, the foHage having a characteristic 

 dark-green hue. Even on the poorest of light land the writer 

 has often seen a field of lupins one dense mass of green material 

 3 J to 4 ft. high. 



In a communication sent to the Royal Agricultural Society, 7 

 Mr. Thomas Crisp, of Butley, Suffolk, called attention to 

 xemarkable results he had obtained on poor light land by 

 growing lupins. 



I\Ir. Crisp was sent a sack of blue and a sack of yellow lupin 

 seed by Baron von Nathusius of Hundisburgh, Prussia. He 

 drilled, in 1858, one bush, of seed per acre on poor blowing 

 sand, and in the following 3' ear, from 18 acres under lupins, 

 he obtained 50 wagon-loads of sheaves. Mr. Crisp was of the 

 opinion that yellow lupins are better for hay, straw, and chaff, 

 and that the blue variety is better for seed. 



Baron von Nathusius stated that in Prussia he sowed yellow 

 lupins in June, ploughing in green, or folding with sheep. He 

 found that the blue lupin makes excellent hay, but is difficult 

 to dry. He also stated that the seed of both varieties was 

 found to make excellent food for sheep and that the straw and 

 chaff was of value for store sheep. He gave the following 

 analysis of lupin seed : — 



Water .. .. .. .. .. 14-15 per cent. 



Fatty matter . . . . . . . . 6-7 ,, 



Nitrogenous substances . . . . . . 33-36 ,, 



Starch . . . . . . . . . . 26-30 



Woody fibre 11 -12 



Mineral matter . . . . . . . . 3-4 



In the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, 1896, Dr. 

 Bernard Dyer gave an account of experiments conducted by 

 Dr. Schultz, of Lupitz, Saxony. Dr. Schultz worked at the 

 problem of improving a poor sandy soil, which contained from 

 o- 18 to 0-26 per cent, of lime, and succeeded in greatly increasing 



* Loc. cit. 



t Jour, of the Roy. Agric. Soc, 1859. 



