WHAT PEA CROPS DO FOR THE SOIL

Northern Advocate, 18 February 1926, Page 6

WHAT PEA CROPS DO FOR THE SOIL

WJion crops are grown on one ulot df land year after j*ar the ground becomes exhausted of plane foods, particularly nitrates, which- are compound's of nitrogen with other substances. In order to supply the soil anew with nitrogen, a. most important source of strength to plants. Peas, Beans, Clover, or some other plant belonging to the Pea family or Leguminosae is sown. It is found after this, has taken place that the ground at once becomes rich- in nitrogen without .the, help of any kind of manure. If a plant of Pea or Bean is examined, we find that there are at intervals along -the slender roots hard round swellings, called root tubercles. Inside the "stem, and particularly at the points, where the swellings are found, are quantities of bacteria, which live in partnership with the plant, and can only be seen individually under a powerful microscope. These organisms are able to absorb and make use of the free nitrogen gas, which is contained in the air surrounding the soil particles. As a result, the members of the Leguminosae. family not only obtain the ordinary supply of nitrogen in the form of dissolved nitrates in the soil, bui are able to upon the inexhaustible supply in the air. Thus they are of enormous benefit to the farmer and gardener, more especially if the roots an A haulms can be ploughed into the soir when the harvest has been gathered. Crops of Peas or Beans sown in the garden or allotment after a crop such as Cabbage, which.- is very exhausting to the soil, will do wonders in replenishing' the plant foods and making the ground more fertile. These plants invariably leave the soil richer than they found~it.