The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1915-01-30
THE VALUE Of LEGUMES
ON A FARM IS GREAT

more Importance than is generally
realized by the farmers of Louisiana
There are so many leguminous crops,
many of which are used for different
things, that it is hard to discuss one
particular thing without bringing in
something else.
Legumes are plants that gather the
nitrogen from the air and collect and
deposit it in small noduIes formed on
the roots of the plant. These plants
are defined as pod-bearing plants. Such
crops as peas, beans, alfalfa, cloyers,
vetch, and peanuts are the most i'm.
Iportant legumes raised in Louisiana.
Some of these crops are better adapted
to certain sections than others, but
practically all of them can be success
fully grown in most of the State.
One of the most important objects
in planting legumes is to furnish nitro
gen to the soil. II nitrogen Is supplied
to the soil in the form of commercial
fertilizers, such as nitrate of soda,
tankage, and dried blood, it will cost
about 20 cents pound. Practically all
of this expense can be eliminated by
growing legumes.
In the year 1885 Hellriegel and Will
farth discovered the beneficial effect
|of legumes, though many accurate ex-
periments had long before proved the
fact.
An examination of the roots of le-
guminous plants will show the nodules
or tubercles; sometimes very few,
sometimes very many. These vary in
size and shape according to the kind
Of plant These tubercles are caused
by certain kind of bacteria, and it is
by these bacteria that the nitrogen of
the air is absorbed so it can be used by
the plant. The bacteria get nourish-
ment from the legumes, while they
provide nitrogen for the host plant.
Nearly every legume has its own par.
ticular strain of nodule bacteria. For
example, that Of the clover is different
from that of alfalfa, and that of the
cowpea distinct from that of the soy
bean. In planting a leguminous crop
for the first time it will therefore often
happen that no tubercles will form on
the roots, because the proper kind of
bacteria is not present In the soil.
These may be supplied by scattering
soil from field where the crop in
question has been recently grown, or
by using an artificial culture of the
proper bacteria After the field Is once
thoroughly inoculated, there is rarely
any difficulty in getting an abundant
supply of root tubercles.
The same strain of bacteria will
often inoculate different closely re-
lated legumes. Thus alfalfa, burr
clover, and sweet clover are tubercles
by the same strain; different strain
inoculates most kind of vetches, as
we'll as the field and garden peas; still
another strain Is apparently used by
red clover, white clover, and alsike
clover in common.
Under certain conditions nitrogen
may. escape from the soil as gas.
This is caused by certain organisms,
called Identifying bacteria, that break
up nitrogen compounds and permit the
nitrogen to escape, usually in the form
of ammonia.
Legumes not only furnish nitrogen in
their roots, but they can be used to
enrich the soil in two other ways:
viz, blowing under as a green manure,
and feeding the harvested crop to live
stock and returning the manure to the
land.
To be plowed under as green
manure the crop should not be allowed
to ripen, but plowed under while green.
At this time there is much water in the
plant and when 1t decays the humus
helps keep the soil in good condition
for the following crop.
If the crop is harvested and fed to
livestock, 1t serves double purpose of
fattening the animals and furnishing
plant food in the form Of the manure
that Is returned to the soil. This is a
practical way Of cultivating leguminous
plants and is beyond question the best
way to keep up soil fertility and at the
same time get the whole value from
the crop. Where this practice is fol-
lowed the productivity of the land is
maintained indefinitely. The only de-
pletion Is the small amount of potash
and phosphorus sold in the livestock
product. The loss of nitrogen is more
than maintained by the activity of the
soil bacteria.
1t is claimed by our leading edu.
Gators along agricultural lines that
gtnck. ia rninr must ho nro o&;ooS 1850.