38 
PUDOR’S DESCRIPTIVE SEED LIST 
A clump of perennial Lupin 
Back in 1888, Dr. Hellriegel of Germany proved that all legumes are hosts to a bene¬ 
ficial bacterium on their roots. This bacterium, now generally referred to as “Bacillus 
radicola,” has the power to change the free nitrogen in the air to a nitrate directly assimil¬ 
able by the plant. Dr. Hellriegel showed that these bacteria live in nodules on the roots, and 
that where these nodules are present the plants grow luxuriantly. 
For several years I have been growing from 1500 to 2000 seedlings of hybrid lupines on a 
lime soil, and all plants that are two years or older have their roots full of these nodules of 
bacteria, most of them from one-quarter to one-half inch in diameter, but many are three- 
quarters of an inch through. The plants grow luxuriantly, some of them five feet tall, with 
18-inch spikes. Here, then, is the cause of the successes or failures in growing this legume, 
just as it has been the cause of the successes or failures of the farmers in growing alfalfa 
and other members of the legume family. For success, you must have a lime soil and the 
right bacterium. 
The sourness of the soil can be corrected by the addition of lime or wood ashes, prefer¬ 
ably the latter, and the correct bacterium may be supplied by broadcasting soil from a 
plot where lupines, with nodules on their roots, have been grown, or plants with the 
bacteria on their roots may be purchased. One other cultural detail that should be observed 
in growing lupines is to remove the flower stems before the seed pods form. If you wish 
to save seed, allow but one spike on a plant to form seed. Few plants seem to feel the 
weakening effect of seed formation as much as do the lupines. 
The lupine is a native of America. At least one species is found in every state in the 
union, while a total of more than 200 species and varieties cover the country. One of my 
correspondents in Fairbanks, Alaska, informs me that one or more species of the lupine 
grows luxuriantly there under the Arctic circle. 
Barre, Vermont 
JAMES E. MITCHELL (In Horticulture) 
