Ahhhhh!  A very supportive use those beans!  I stand corrected on their
importance to us.  They have an atmospheric job!  I knew there had to be a
benefit for us somewhere.  Thanks for the superb lesson.  Now if we could
only fix the gas given to humans we could all breathe a lot easier.  Oliva

----Original Message-----
From: Aaron Felker


>The resulting plants are the various bean plants, the legumes.  These
plants
>have in common a variably fleshy seed pod and the ability to fix (make
>accessible)atmospheric nitrogen through nodules in their roots.  The
legumes
>are not the only plants that have the capability to fix nitrogen, clover
>comes to mind, for one.  It is this ability to re-invigorate the soil that
>made the peanut so important economically.  Cotton is extremely hard on the
>soil and will spoil land for agriculture relatively quickly, which was the
>case when the peanut was introduced.  Used in rotation with cotton, the
>peanut was able to allow the southern US to remain in cotton production.
>There are other things that the legumes have in common, I'm sure, but
botany
>was quite awhile ago.  Cashews, I believe are only distant relatives to
>peanuts, and are more closely related to Poison Ivy via Family name,
>Anacardiacia.
>
>Aaron Felker
>