The Fertilising Influence of Sunlight

Abstract

THE past history of agricultural science furnishes several examples of belated explanations of the utility of practices the value of which has long become a tradition among practical men. The explanation of the value of leguminous crops in agriculture is a good example. While the recognition of the rôle of these crops in increasing the nitrogen supply in the soil has done much to improve agriculture in new countries, it has only served to provide a scientific approval of the cultural practices of ancient civilisations, such as that of India, where from time immemorial it has been the custom to grow leguminous crops in the rotation and also as one of the constituents of the mixed crops cultivated in many parts of the country.