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PREFACE 
 
 In issuing this treatise on "The Peanut and Its Culture," the 
 purpose of the Editor is to present to its readers such infor- 
 mation regarding the peanut industry as will be of value to 
 all persons engaged in the growing or the handling of this im- 
 i)ortant crop, with special attention to the methods that have 
 obtained the best results among 
 all varieties of peanuts. 
 
 The suggestions and advice sq 
 clear and concise, so that every^ 
 tlieiu and profit. by them. One 
 this, they are all practical. Tht 
 on the actual experience and ol 
 ful growers. 
 
 Petersburg, Va., May, 1905. 
 
 hilnw"aL''-''"^ V^ *« 'i*** indicated 
 below and is subject to an overdue 
 fine as posted at the circulation desk 
 
 „¥„S?Pj;.9Ni Date_due will be I 
 
 LEaJ 
 
 r. — .n,, .^V ^**^e uue will he 
 earlier if this item is RECALLED 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 ixtroductiox, - - - - 7 
 
 Magnitude of the Peanut Cm^ 9 
 
 Origin and Botany of the¥eanut, 11 
 
 Peculiarities of the Peanut Pdant, 12 
 
 The Peanut a Fruit, not a Vegetable, 13 
 
 Varieties of the Peanut and Their Special Uses, - - 14 
 
 Domestic Uses of the Peanut, - - 17 
 
 Breeding Seed Peanuts, 19 
 
 Dealers' Comment on Seed Selection, 22 
 
 The Peanut, - - , - - 22 
 
 Cultivation of the Peanut " - - 25 
 
 How Peanuts are Harvested, 30 
 
 How TO Cultivate and Harvest Spanish Peanuts, - - 34 
 
 The Peanut "Popper," - 39 
 
 Peanut Culture in Arkansas, 40 
 
 Adaptability of the Peanut to the Arid West, - - 43 
 
 How Peanuts are Prepared by Factories for the Trade, - 44 
 
 Spanish Peanut Industry at Petersburg, Va., - - - 46 
 
 Virginia Peanut Industry at Norfolk, Va., - - - - 47 
 
 Peanut Industry at Suffolk, Va., 49 
 
 Foreign Peanuts, ----49 
 
 (Frauce, Spain, Africa, Mala^- Archipelago, Chiua, Japan.) 
 
 ARACHIDES in ]MaRSEILLK, 00 
 
 How Peanut Oil is JNIade, 57 
 
 The Peanut as a Food, 5S 
 
 Comparative Weights and Prices, 59 
 
 Prices of Peanuts each Month fro^i January 1st, 1900 
 
 to June 1.st, 1905, 60 
 
 Index, -.-.-.----... 61 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Just fifty years ago peanuts were grown in America only 
 in the gardens of a few persons in the Tidewater counties of 
 Virginia and the Carolinas, almost as curiosities. They were 
 intended solely for family use, and but few were grown for this 
 purpose. 
 
 The commercial value of the peanut in this country dates 
 from the years immediately following the Civil War. Soldiers 
 had discovered that peanuts were excellent food, and when they 
 returned from the war they assigned a larger space to peanut 
 culture. The acreage has continued to increase until the pea- 
 nut crop has assumed a greater importance in . the Tidewater 
 counties of Virginia and North Carolina than the corn and the 
 wheat crops, and has displaced many other profit crops. 
 
 The peanut is now a commercial crop of great importance, 
 and is extensively gi'own in five continents. Though so widely 
 cultivated, it remained for Americ^fTto demonstrate the value of 
 the nut as a delicacy, while we are indebted to a colonist at Goree, 
 near Cape Verde, for demonstrating its commercial value. In 
 America the peanut is grown in most of the Northern and 
 Western States in addition to all the Southern States, and is 
 cultivated in gardens as far north as Canada. The annual crop 
 of this country is about 300,000,000 pounds, nearly two-thirds 
 of which is, at present, produced in Virginia and North Caro- 
 lina. It is estimated that about 350,000 acres of land are de- 
 voted to peanut culture in the United States each year, and that 
 there are 175,000 persons employed in producing and harvest- 
 ing this crop. 
 
 Of the total crop, more than one-half is cleaned and prepared 
 for the market by the factories in Petersburg. Suffolk and Nor- 
 folk, in Virginia. Peanut cleaning and shelling is now one of 
 the most important industries in the Old Dominion. There 
 are twenty-five re-cleaning plants in this State, representing a 
 capital of several millions of dollars. 
 
 Nearly the entire crop of American peanuts is used for food 
 purposes, being sold to confectioners for use in making candies, 
 and to jobbers, who dispose of them through retailers to street 
 vendors. A large quantity is taken by sanitariums, and the rest 
 
 PROPERTY LIBRARY 
 
8 Introduction. 
 
 are used for domestic purposes and consumption by stock and 
 poultry. 
 
 Importations, which were formerly of considerable importance, 
 have fallen off until now they amount to very little. 
 
 The peanut is cultivated abroad in all tropical and sub-tropi- 
 cal countries, in some growing almost wild, in others receiving 
 a rude system of culture, while in others the cultivation has 
 been reduced to an intensive system which brings liberal yields. 
 T':^ largest trade in these nuts is done at Marseille, France, 
 where, during 1904, the imports consisted of 202,000,000 pounds 
 of shelled nuts, and 160,000,000 pounds of unshelled nuts from 
 Africa, India and other countries. Here they are manufac- 
 tured into oil, very few of these nuts being used for edible pur- 
 poses as compared with the consumption in this country. 
 
 The American peanut, while superior for edible purposes, 
 lacks the oil-producing qualities of the African nuts. The 
 United States Department of Agriculture is now experimenting 
 with varieties, for the purpose of combining the excellent flavor 
 of the native nut and the oil-producing qualities of the African 
 nut. 
 
 Should these experiments prove successful, or should a tj-pe be- 
 come popular among the farmers in this country containing the 
 oil-producing capacity of the African grown nuts, there will 
 be made possible in America the creation and organization of 
 a new oil-crushing industry only less important than the cotton- 
 oil industry of today. 
 
MAGNITUDE OF THE PEANUT CROP. 
 
 'J"he magnitude of the peanut crop of the United States is 
 much underrated by the general public. Until recently, there 
 were practically no statistics of the peanut crop ; and even yet 
 the National Department of Agriculture has not seen fit to give 
 it a place on the blanks furnished to the crop reporters in the 
 Southern States. 
 
 By the census returns of 1900, peanuts were reported as 
 lieing grown in all of the Southern States, in California, Okla- 
 \unnii and ^Missouri, and the annual product was estimated at 
 something more than twelve million bushel:^ But peanuts are 
 being grown now in several of the border States, from iNIary- 
 Innd to Illinois, also in Oregon, New Jersey and Delaware; 
 and the area cf the crop is gradually extending into new terri- 
 tory throughout the South. It has crossed the Rio Grande 
 into JMexico, is working its way into Arizona and the arid West, 
 and is cultivated in gardens, as an interesting curiosity, as far 
 iu)rth as Canada. 
 
 Phicing the annual crop now at fourteen million bushels for 
 the whole country, and using the United States statistics for 
 our guide, we put the two States of Virginia and North Caro- 
 lina at the head of the list, each producing about four million 
 buslH?ls. and both together rather more than half of the annual 
 output of tlie country. Georgia grows now some two million 
 bushels, Alabama one and a half million, Florida one m.illion, 
 South Carolina and Texas each five hundred thousand, the 
 other States making up the remaining five hundred thousand. 
 
 Estimating the average yield per acre at forty bushels (it 
 often reaches one hundred in Virginia), we find about one hun- 
 dred thousand acres devoted to this crop in each of the States 
 of Virginia and North Carolina, fifty thousand acres in Georgia, 
 thirty-seven thousand in Alabama, twenty-five thousand in 
 Florida, and twenty-five thousand in the two States of Texas 
 and South Carolina, with some twelve thousand acres distributed 
 through the other peanut-growing States. Thus we find some 
 three hundred and fifty thousand acres of land devoted to pea- 
 nut culture in the country at large. "We regard this as a very 
 moderate estimate of the peanut area of the Union. It is more 
 rather than less. 
 
10 
 
 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTUR] 
 
 There are twenty-five counties in Virginia, and as many in 
 North Carolina, that grow peanuts as a staple crop. The 
 average peanut area per county is about four thousand acres, 
 ranging from two thousand in the smallest counties to five or six 
 thousand in the largest. In Virginia, the banner county, as to 
 both area, and output, is, beyond doubt, Southampton, with Isle 
 of Wight her close competitor. 
 
 Estimating the average crop per hand to be four acres, there 
 are at least one thousand persons in each coimty who are engaged 
 directly in peanut culture. This calculation makes the number 
 of men engaged in the cultivation of this crop in the two States 
 of Virginia and North Carolina alone, to be about fifty thousand. 
 Counting women and children, however, who take part in the 
 work at some stage of the crop, there are at least as many more. 
 And reckoning proportionately for all the peanut States, we 
 have a grand total for the whole country of about one hun- 
 dred and seventy-five thousand persons employed in producing 
 and harvesting the fourteen million bushels of pindars grown 
 annuallv in the United States. This is an average of eighty 
 bushels per capita of all those employed in this crop, or one 
 hundred and sixty bushels per capita for the men and boys who 
 till the fields, preparatory to the harvest. If each one of the 
 three hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, supposed to be 
 devoted to peanut culture annually, receives one sack (200 
 pounds) of some brand of commercial fertilizer, the total con- 
 sumption of fertilizers every year upon this crop alone is not 
 far from thirty-five thousand tons. This amount, at only twenty 
 dollars per ton, which is less than the average cost, makes the 
 fertilizer bill of the peanut-growers of the United States no less 
 than seven hundred thousand ($700,000) dollars. Allowing 
 for the purchase of plaster in many districts, and for those 
 farmers who use one and a half to two sacks of fertilizer per 
 acre, it is seen that peanut-growers invest nearly or quite one 
 million ($1,000,000) dollars per annum on this pet crop. At 
 four cents per pound the twelve million bushels put upon the 
 market, reserving two million bushels for seed, the total value of 
 the crop is about ten million five hundred and sixty thousand 
 ($10,560,000) dollars. 
 
 Such, approximately, is the size and value of the peanut crop 
 of the Southern States.. Even these figures do not give the whole 
 of the interesting story. 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 11 
 
 ORIGIN AND BOTANY OF THE PEANUT. 
 
 PKOF. II. HAKOLD HUME, Rnlelgli, IV. C. 
 
 For many years the original home of the peanut {A rack is 
 hypoga'a) was in dispute, but this dispute has been set at rest 
 by the investigations of Alphonse De CandoUe. 
 
 It has been said that it had its origin in Africa, or in Asia ; 
 but the weight of evidence points to Brazil as the home of this 
 unique plant, though its existence in a wild state is unknown. 
 
 The evidence upon which this conclusion is based is sufficiently 
 convincing to allow little reason to doubt the accuracy of 
 De Candolle's conclusion. The genus Aracliis contains a half 
 dozen or more other species, all of which are known to be natives 
 of Brazil. It would be an unusual exception to find one single 
 isolated plant the native of one hemisphere, while all of its 
 near relatives were found in another. Marcgraf and Piso 
 described the peanut from Bnizil as early as 1648. There were 
 ancient American names— maud uhi, anchic and mani—tor the 
 plant. On the other hand, the peanut was unknown to the early 
 Greek, Latin and Arab writers. The agriculture of Egypt is 
 very ancient; yet, according to the early botanists, it was not 
 in cultivation in that country. In India it has no name in the 
 ancient Sanskrit. In the older books on the plants of the Orient, 
 the peanut is always referred to as a cultivated plant, and in 
 the more ancient ones it is not mentioned. 
 
 But, on the other hand, we Icnow that it was cultivated 
 extensively in Guinea and other parts of Africa at an early 
 date. Sloane, in his work on Jamaica, says that it was used by 
 slave-dealers to feed the negroes on the passage from Africa. . 
 This may be explained, however, by the supposition that the 
 first slave-ships carried the peanut from Brazil to Africa, toward 
 the close of the fifteenth century, where it soon became gen- 
 erally cultivated, and it was then used in the way stated by 
 Sloane, and eventually was brought to the British Colonies in 
 America by the slave-ships, and was subsequently planted and 
 cultivated in the Southern Colonies of Virginia and Carolina, 
 from which its culture has spread generally throughout all the 
 Southern States. Its presence in the Orient may be explained 
 on the basis of a Portuguese introduction toward the close of 
 the sixteenth century. 
 
 The peanut belongs to Family Leguminosre and the genus 
 
12 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 Arachis, the name Arachis hypogaa having been applied to it 
 by Linnteus in 1752. Though allied to the clovers, peas, beans, 
 "^•etches and other well-known plants of the same family, it pre- 
 sents some striking differences. The pods of most of our com- 
 mon legumes break open at maturity, but the peanut pod does 
 not. The flowers are produced above ground and the downward 
 curve of the flower-stem drives the pods into the earth to ripen. 
 Arachis hypogaa Linna?us— peanut, pindar, goober — an herb 
 with numerous stems, 8-12 inches or more in length, procumbent ; 
 leaves abruptly pinnate, leaflets in two pairs, tendrils lacking; 
 flowers yellow in axillary clusters; calyx a narrow tube, two- 
 lipped; stamens in a single group (monadelphous) ; when the- 
 floral parts fall oft' the growing pod is shoved out on a reflexed 
 stem and is pushed into the soil, where it ripens; legume ovate- 
 oblong, torulose, coriaceous, reticulated, indehiscent, 1-3- seeded ; 
 cotyledons oily, thick, fleshy; radical thick, short." 
 
 PECULIARITIES OF THE PEANUT PLANT. 
 
 There are some peculiarities of the peanut that might well be 
 noticed. "While the pindar is a leguminous plant, it is an 
 underground legume— one that grows and matures its seed- 
 pods beneath the soil. Hence the specific name by which it is 
 known and described— /n/po^/fta. 
 
 The small, yellow, butterfly-shaped flowers appear on stems 
 that spring out from the axils of the branches above ground, 
 which stems (peduncles) increase in length till they reach and 
 penetrate the soil about the plants. As the flower fades and 
 falls off, the germ of the future pod begins to form at the end 
 of the stem, and once the peduncle has found its way into mel- 
 low soil, the pod begins to grow rapidly. If the stem fails to 
 reach the ground, no pod is formed. 
 
 Another interesting peculiarity of the peanut is its habit of 
 closing each pair of leaflets together, like the covers of a book, 
 on the approach of night, or when a shower begins to fall upon 
 them. The leaflets are in pairs, and as darkness and dewy eve 
 come on, each pair begins gradually to approach nearer and 
 nearer together, until they meet and stand erect, edge up, and 
 remain so through the night. 
 
 The formation of numerous small nodules upon the roots of 
 this plant, as it approaches maturity-, is a third peculiarity that 
 attaches to it, in common with some other plants of the same 
 
THE PEANUT 
 
 AND 
 
 ITS CULTURE 
 
 Edited by 
 
 W^ILLIAM N. ROPER, 
 
 Editor of the AjrERiCAX Nrx Joukxai., Petersburg, Va. 
 
 ^-^^hfc-si!.- 
 
 PUBLISHED JiY 
 
 AMERICAN NUT JOURNAL, 
 Petersburg, Va. 
 
Copyright by 
 
 WILLIAM N. ROPER. 
 
 1905. 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE, 13 
 
 order. These nodules are always present ; but they are more 
 numerous and better developed whenever the plant is grown 
 on a light, porous, sandy loam, such as suits the peanut best. 
 The presence of these nodules indicates thriftiness and vitality 
 in the crop, and when they are few in nmnber, and small, the 
 soil either is not suited to the peanut, or it needs amendment 
 and fertilization. These protuberances have been called bac- 
 teria nodules, their office being to assimilate and appropriate ^ 
 the nitrogen gathered by the. plant from the atmosphere. When- ^ 
 ever these nodules ai-e abundant, and they nearly always are in 
 a loam}', calcareous soil, the crop will be a large one. 
 
 Perhaps it is proper to mention the marked cinnamon-yellow 
 color of the roots as a peculiarity of the peanut. It is a very 
 noticeable feature, and perhaps there may be some, as yet undis- 
 covered, medicinal virtue attached to these roots. This seems 
 to be indicated b}' their bitterish taste, when chewed. 
 
 There is one more fact concerning the peanut which may be 
 regarded as peculiar to it. It has no insect enemies, so to speak. 
 That is, the plant is very rarely attacked or fed upon by any 
 insect — certainly never to the detriment of the crop. Of what 
 other farm product can this be truthfully said? 
 
 Peculiar in its habits and mode of growth, the peanut has 
 much to interest the botanist, as well as much to recommend it 
 as a profitable agricultural staple. 
 
 THE PEANUT A FRUIT, NOT A VEGETABLE. 
 
 That"" part of the peanut which develops under the ground 
 is a fruit : that is, the part we eat or the nut part is, strictly 
 speaking, a fruit. Botanically speaking, the fruit is the matured 
 ovary, and all it contains or is connected with. A vegetable, 
 on the ether hand is, in its widest sense, a term which includes 
 all the productions of the vegetable kingdom, all of which are 
 treated of in the science of Botany, from the largest trees to 
 the common messes. Vegetables, as the term is commonly used, 
 are such plants as are cultivated for the table. Cabbages,, 
 parsnips and the like are vegetables ; but they are not fruit, 
 since they do not contain, in the part that goes on the table, 
 the ripened ovary and what it contains. The peanut, or the 
 edible part of the peanut, is the ripened ovary and its contents; 
 hence it i:? correct to say the peanut is a fruit and not a vege- 
 table. It wV lid be desirable to classify peanuts in the same class 
 with English valnuts. pecans and other like nuts. 
 
14 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 VARIETIES OF THE PEANUT AND THEIR SPECIAL USES. 
 
 The peanut-grower, whether a beginner or an old cultivator, 
 should determine, first of all, what is his chief object in raising 
 this crop. Decision on this point will indicate not only the 
 variety he should grow, but also, to a great extent, the fertilizers 
 to be used, the modes of culture and the method of harvesting. 
 If he designs to become a general- cultivator of peanuts, and 
 grow some of several varieties, still it is important to know 
 the special place and uses of each, as there are several varieties 
 of the peanut, each kind more particularly adapted to a special 
 purpose. 
 
 If the purpose is to grow peanuts for market chiefly without 
 much regard to other uses of the crop, the grower should select 
 either the Bunch peanut alone, or, in addition to this variety, 
 should procure some of the largest-podded strain of the Flat 
 or Running peanut, and grow these in connection with the other 
 kind. The Bunch peanut has large, fine pods, and is popular 
 with buyers, always commanding a good price everywhere. It is 
 prolific, and the nuts grow all in a cluster, hence are picked by 
 hand with greater facility than the other varieties. It produces 
 about as many pounds per acre as the Flat nut, may be planted 
 nearer, together both M'ays, and is cultivated with more ease than 
 the other sort. The plant grows erect from a central root like 
 a hill of beans, and produces its pods all in a bunch about the 
 crown of the root. The harvesting of this variety may begin a 
 week or two earlier than is usual with the Flat sort. By care in 
 choosing only the best seed, and growing the crop in rotation or 
 on new land, which tends to make very large and showy pods, 
 the Bunch peanut must soon rank everywhere as a" most desirable 
 and profitable sort. 
 
 But if farmers prefer a good, general purpose peanut — one 
 that is not only profitable for market, but one of the best for 
 fattening pork and other meats and for improving the farm- 
 let them take the large-podded Flat or Running peanut. This 
 is the staple and standard variety in Virginia and most other 
 States, at least seven-tenths of the entire annual output being 
 of this kind. There are several varieties of the Flat nut, some 
 of them having very small pods, which are not popular with 
 buyers nor profitable for the growers. 
 
 The plant spreads out close upon the surface o' the ground. 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 15 
 
 the branches of the vine radiating from a central taproot. On 
 very rich soil a single vine of this sort will often attain to a 
 diameter, from tip to tip of branch, of five or six feet, but this 
 great spread of vine is objectionable, a size not to exceed 
 eighteen to thirty inches being preferable. This sort produces 
 its seed from stems that grow out at the axils of the many- 
 branched vine : hence the pods are distributed over the entire 
 plant from the taproot outward nearly to the ends of the 
 branches. The Flat peanut is prolific, with good-sized pods, 
 unless grown from degenerated seed on very poor land, and it 
 is admirably suited for commercial purposes. If proper care 
 
 FLAT OR rirXKING VIIIGIXIA PEANl'T.s. (Exact Size.) 
 ' Type of stuck grown b,\- E. 'I", sii ackelfohk, on his farm in Clies- 
 terlielcl coimtj-, near PetLrshurir, Va. 
 
 were always taken to choose the largest and best pods for seed, 
 such as are produced on medium stiff soil or new ground freshly 
 brought into cultivation, the Flat peanut would unmistakably 
 be the best sort for general cultivation. The vine of this variety 
 makes more and better forage than any other; it yields more in 
 pounds per acre, and can be harvested with rather more facility 
 than the Bnneh kind. Care in selecting good seed and rotating 
 the crop will keep this a leading commercial variety. 
 
 The farmer who desires a small nut for all domestic fowls. 
 

 16. THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 the smallest peanut of all, something that is petit and pretty, 
 mild and savory for the confectioners' elite consumers, will find 
 the Spanish nut just the beau ideal for his purpose. For eating, 
 raw or cooked, it is the best nut of all. It is employed largely 
 in the manufacture of candies, and it holds a place all alone in 
 commercial circles that no other peanut can so well fill. Its 
 cultivation for sale is profitable, especially as it will yield more 
 on poor land or without fertilizers than any other sort, and there 
 will always be a good demand for it. The Spanish nut is grovm 
 almost exclusively in some districts, and the modes of cultiva- 
 tion and harvesting are coming to be a distinct and separate 
 branch of peanut culture. 
 
 The vines grow erect, like the Bunch sort, but they are small 
 and slender, and the color of the foliage a lighter green than 
 that of the other kinds. The pods are the smallest of any pea- 
 nuts yet brought into cultivation in this country. They grow 
 in a closely-matted cluster about the main stem. The Spanish 
 peanut may be planted later and harvested earlier than any 
 other kind. It never "pops" and seldom "blasts," and will 
 )^grow on poorer soils than other sorts. 
 
 On account of the small size of the pods and the ease and 
 cheapness with which this crop may be grown, this peanut is 
 particularly suited to the poulterer. Given access to a field of 
 Spanish peanuts in September or October, the poultry will 
 save the farmer all the labor and expense of picking and 
 gathering the crop, and it will often pay better this way than 
 to harvest and sell it. Every farmer who raises a flock of 
 geese or turkeys or other fowls for market should grow a patch 
 of Spanish peanuts and give them up at maturity exclusively to 
 the fowls. No other fattener would be required. It is cheaper 
 than corn,- and the land in this way, by having the vines, hulls 
 and leaves to remain and rot upon it, is greatly benefited and 
 enriched, for it must be remembered that few things are more 
 conducive to soil fertility than decayed peanut vines. 
 
 The Jumbo Running variety is one that will doubtless become 
 a favorite where extra-large nuts are desired. This variety is 
 twice the size of the regular A^irginia Running or Flat variety, 
 and can be made to yield 500 pounds more to the acre. The nuts 
 grow from 150 to 175 in a hill, which is equivalent to four 
 quarts. 
 
 There is the Smooth-podded Flat nut, with a pod about half 
 the size of the parent variety. Then there are two varieties 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 71 
 
 in Tennessee known as the White and the Eed. The Wliite 
 closely resembles the Virginia Ennning variety, and the Red, 
 with somewhat similar pods, produces kernels of a dark-red 
 skin. The North Carolina or African variety, which is grown 
 in the eastern part of North Carolina, has pods similar to the 
 Virginia variety, but the kernels contain more oil than the other 
 varieties. The Georgia Eed nut, as it is sometimes known, is 
 similar to the Red nut of Tennessee, has medium-sized vines 
 growing up from the ground and fruiting near the taproot. 
 
 Other types will come with wider and more general cultiva- 
 tion and by painstaking industry in developing new sorts for 
 special uses. The capabilities of the peanut plant are great, 
 and as the cultivation extends and its uses multiply, special 
 sorts will in time be brought out. A nut the richest in oil or 
 the one of best edible qualities, or the best stock and poultry 
 nut, or. the nut of the shortest period of growth, would become 
 popular, fill a place in peanut farming, and bring its introducer 
 competency and fame. 
 
 DOMESTIC USES OF THE PEANUT. 
 
 Persons going into peanut culture for the most profit should 
 count a good deal on the home uses of the crop. Apart from 
 the high commercial value of the nuts, there are domestic uses 
 of the crop that give it great value, merely as a product for 
 consumption at home. Every part of the plant is useful in one 
 way or another, either for feeding and fattening the domestic 
 stock, or for adding fertility to the farm. 
 
 The opinion has been entertained in some quarters that the 
 peanut is an exhausting crop. This is an error. It is only so 
 when the method of farming is such as takes the entire crop, 
 plant and fruit, off the land, without putting anything back, to 
 replace the humus, nitrogen, &c., that has been abstracted. The 
 crop does not draw heavily upon the fertility of the soil. The 
 plant is a nitrogen collector, and having a strong taproot that 
 penetrates deeply into the subsoil, it collects much of its mineral 
 food from the layer of earth beneath the surface soil. It does 
 not get the bulk of its food material from the surface through 
 a great mass of fibrous roots, like corn. It draws its stores 
 from below, and gathers from the air much of its fertility. 
 
 Like clover, and other leguminous plants having bacteria 
 
18 THE PEAN UT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 nodules upon the roots, the peanut plant is a greedy collector 
 of nitrogen, carbonic acid, &c., from the atmosphere, either 
 above or within the soil, and hence may be utilized, like clover, 
 in restoring fertility to the soil. The root of this plant, in shape 
 and mode of growth, resembles the branching of an oak tree, 
 with a main root or stem that penetrates deeply. Hence the 
 plant is a good drought resister. It does not send out lateral 
 roots far into the surface soil, like Indian com, hence fertilizers 
 are best placed under the plant in the row, rather than broad- 
 cast. The roots have a yellow color, and perhaps might be em- 
 ployed in dyeing. 
 
 Pound for pound, rotted peanut vines are fully equal in 
 value as a fertilizer to the best stable manure. Wherever pea- 
 nuts are picked off in the field, and the shattered leaves, vines 
 and debris are left to decay, the corn or other crop gro^vn upon 
 the spot the next year will invariably show great improvement. 
 Hence peanut growers like to have as much of the crop as pos- 
 sible picked in the field. 
 
 This, then, is one of the domestic uses of the peanut crop, 
 and a very important one, if properly utilized. As a feed 
 and fattener of stock and poultry, peanuts are worth more, 
 acre for acre, than field peas or corn. They not only yield 
 more food and more fattening material to the animals, but the 
 benefit to the soil arising from the decay of the vines and roots 
 is greater. In this particular they equal, if they do not sur- 
 pass, clover itself. Wherever turkeys, ducks, geese or hens are 
 raised and fattened for the market— or wherever pork, lard, 
 bacon and ham are prominent staples in the farm routine, 
 peanuts should be grown for consumption upon the land. There 
 is no better fattener. In this way all the labor and cost of har- 
 vesting and selling the crop is obviated, and the farmer gets 
 more per pound for the nuts thus converted into meat, than he 
 could get for the nuts after the most careful harvesting. And 
 the benefit to the soil is immense and incalculable. There is 
 no easier or cheaper way to bring up land to a high state of 
 fertility. 
 
 But peanut hay, where the crop is properly harvested and 
 the nuts sold, is acknowledged to be a valuable feed for horses, 
 cattle and sheep. When nicely cured and housed, it is a 
 nutritious and generally safe feed for all animals. Nearly all 
 stock is fond of it. It is not only rich in nutritious elements 
 for stock, but is excellent as a milk-producer when fed liberally 
 
THE PEANUT AND JTS CULTURE. 19 
 
 to cows at the pail. The yield of hay per acre is about equal 
 to that of other hay and fodder crops. If the plant is dug 
 before frost nips it, and before th"e leaves have fallen much, it 
 makes a sweet, nutritious provender. In this Avay, the peanut 
 crop now supplies a large percentage of the forage consumed 
 upon the farms throughout the peanut belts. Hence the ten- 
 dency now is to dig the crop early, in order to save as much as 
 possible of the vines from frost, which renders them unfit for 
 feed. 
 
 The waste3iits left^upon the field, and in the soil, is another 
 of the by-products that becomes an important factor of the 
 domestic uses of the crop. These go a long way and save a 
 good many barrels of corn in fattening the pork supply of the 
 peanut sections. Farmers count much upon this item. 
 
 But there are other domestic uses of the festive peanut, that 
 should not be overlooked — the "peanut roasts," the peanut 
 candy, chocolate pie and pone, all home-made, the social gather- 
 ings wherein peanuts in some delectable form are prominent 
 in the round of festivity and fun. All things considered, we 
 doubt if the home uses of this incomparable and unique staple 
 do not surpass in value and weight even its commercial status. 
 It is, in fact, an all-round crop, that is rapidly becoming cosmo- 
 politan. And its value as a home product, for domestic con- 
 sumption and use upon the farms where grown, is likely to ex- 
 ceed and eclipse its other and former sphere as a money crop. 
 
 BREEDING SEED PEANUTS. 
 
 PROF. AV. F. MASSEV, Rnlelgli, N. C. 
 
 The peanut is no exception to the rule that "whatever a man 
 sows, that will he reap." .If one plants the product of enfeebled 
 plants— small, stunted seed of low vitality— he will certainly 
 get an inferior product. Many imagine that the improvement 
 in plants is generally brought about by some mysterious hybridi- 
 zation or crossing, when, in fact, with plants that are grown 
 from seed, any crossing of varieties gives only the starting 
 points for improvement. The real secret in the improvement of 
 any plant lies in the careful and continued selection from year 
 to year of the plants that come nearest to one's ideal of what 
 the perfect plant of the kind should be. 
 
 The proper care in selecting the seed will be certain to im- 
 
20 
 
 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 prove the character and productiveness of any crop, and the 
 peanut crop is no exception. In taking up the crop, go through 
 the field and observe the habit of the individual plants. Select 
 seed only from plants of abundant vitality and vigorous growth. 
 In taking them up, note the product of each plant and shock 
 the productive plants by themselves to be saved for seed. Now, 
 from these selected seed, the next season plant your crop and 
 also plant a special seed patch, giving it the best possible atten- 
 tion and fertilization. Then, from this patch, continue the 
 
 
 
 M^^- 
 
 ^ 
 
 M' 
 
 M 
 
 ^pl; 
 
 apl^ '. 
 
 ■% 
 
 % 
 
 X 
 
 
 IMPUOVEU nUNNING .JUMBo PEAXUTS. (Exact Size.) 
 From stock of .J. E. Wiggixs. The largest Is 2^4 inches long and 
 3 inches in circumference. The vines grow from 125 to 175 nuts- 
 equal to about four quarts. 
 
 selection of the best plants that bear the heaviest crop of nuts 
 and have the best habit of growth. Continue this from year to 
 year, and you will find that in a few years you will have bred 
 the variety, no matter what the variety is, to a far greater pro- 
 duction. Planting only the best developed nuts from the most 
 productive liills, you will increase the crop in a few years, as 
 much as by tlie permanent improvement of the soil itself. Get 
 
. THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 21 
 
 well fixed in jiiind what you would consider the perfect plant 
 of the variety you grow, and always select towards that ideal 
 type. You may not get the perfect plant you imagine, but you 
 will certainly get a variety that will attract the attention of 
 all the growers around you, and make your peanuts more valua- 
 ble for seed than for the general market, while the price on the 
 market will be better for properly-bred and improved nuts. 
 While the plant breeders have been improving corn, wheat and 
 other crops by seed selection, there has been little done in the 
 improvement of the peanut, and there is a wide field for its 
 improvement. 
 
 One reason for the planting of a separate seed patch every 
 year is to get the best plants by themselves and removed from 
 any inferior surroundings, for in the seed patch one can pull 
 out and remove inferior plants and not allow them to influence 
 those around them when their blossoms are maturing the pollen. 
 In the breeding of any plant, this removal of surrounding 
 inferior types is a matter of importance. 
 
 Therefore, in a seed patch of peanuts, I would pull out every 
 runt plant that showed itself and not allow it to have any in- 
 fluence on the crop, and I would rigidly examine the crop of 
 every plant at digging time and select only the very best to 
 plant the seed patch the following year, using the rest for the 
 general crop, and thus, year by year would be advancing. AVith 
 well-selected seed and good farming with the peanut crop, there 
 is no reason why 100 bushels per acre should not be a common 
 crop. 
 
 I have long had a notion that the prevalence of "pops" is 
 due more to the failure of the blossoms to get fertilized than to 
 the lack of lime. The effect of lime is mainly through aiding 
 the activity of the bacteria that live in the roots of the plant 
 and enable it to get the nitrogen from the air, and thus in- 
 creasing the general vigor of the plant and the perfection of the 
 flowers. It is well known that these bacteria will not thrive in 
 an acid soil, and most of the lands that are devoted to peanuts 
 have gotten into an acid condition. 
 
 Many of our peanut growers have a prejudice against the 
 cow pea as an improving and forage crop, and claim that good 
 peanuts cannot be grown after cow peas. Both these being 
 legume crops, I would not follow a pea crop at once by peanuts, 
 but I would certainly have peas in the rotation of crops for 
 the improvement of the land, and through the vegetable matter 
 
22 , THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 they leave in the soil to render the liming of the peas more 
 effective. Farming, in a good rotation of crops with peanuts 
 as the money crop, can be done as well as with any other crop, 
 and the Southern pea will make the best of all agents in the 
 improvement of the soil. 
 
 DEALERS' COMMENT ON SEED SELECTION. 
 
 HOLMES &. DAWSON, Norfolk, Va. 
 
 From our observation and experience in selling and handling 
 peanuts as they come from the farm, and the knowledge acquired 
 through extensive operations in this important crop, we have 
 particularly noted that a large precentage of the crop is of 
 medium and poor quality, thereby considerably reducing its 
 value. This condition is obviously brought about by inattention 
 to the careful selection of seed, indifference oftentimes to the 
 care of the plant in progress of growth, and the manner in 
 which the crop is cared for even after it has been harvested. 
 
 To our minds, however, the prime cause of deterioration is 
 the fact that so little care is taken in the selection of proper 
 seed. Well-selected, large-sized peanuts only should be used 
 for planting. There is a wide difference in market price be- 
 tween large and small-sized peanuts, such a difference as would 
 more than pay the farmer for any extra trouble or expense. 
 Large-sized peanuts are always in demand, no matter what the 
 market conditions may be. They meet with ready sale at all 
 times, whereas, the smaller-sized nuts must wait for a strong 
 market and then go at lower prices. Such a patent fact alone 
 should induce the farmer to plant only large-sized seed. 
 
 THE PEANUT. 
 
 PROF. CHARLES \V, BURKETT, Ralelgli, N. C. 
 
 The peanut (Aracliis hypogcea) is one of the most valuable 
 feeding stuffs grown. It is good for man and beast as a food, 
 and is good for the soil as an improver. For man it furnishes 
 protein and ash materials in considerable quantities, and for 
 farm animals it is an extremely valuable balancing food to go 
 with corn and other carbonaceous feeds during the growing 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 23 
 
 season, and as a soil improver it falls in the same line as all 
 k-guminous crops. 
 
 Were yoii to examine the roots of the peanut plant, you would 
 11 nd a wart-like or knotty growth, the size of a pin head or a 
 little larger, that plays such an important part in the life history 
 of this plant. These wart-like or knotty growths are really the 
 homes of the bacteria that gather the atmospheric nitrogen and 
 convert it into a form available to plants. These organisms 
 that live in the root tubercles gather the nitrogen from the air 
 and furnish it without cost to the plant. In this way the total 
 amount of nitrogen often acquired is far in excess of analysis 
 showing it to be present and available in the soil. Thus the 
 tubercle-bearing crops, like the cow pea, clover and the peanut, 
 are soil improvers. For this reason it is a profitable crop to 
 the farmer. It should be remembered that the manner of har- 
 vesting the peanut lessens the soil-improving value. This is 
 because the stored-up and newly-gathered nitrogen is in the 
 tubercles in the roots. When harvested, these tubercles are 
 dug up with the fruit, and unless returned to the soil the ac- 
 cumulated nitrogen is lost. 
 
 The peanut is profitable as a market crop as well as a feeding 
 crop, because it furnishes a product that is constantly in demand. 
 
 If the grower fertilizes his peanut land abundantly with 
 phosphorus, potassium and lime— for let it be known that pea- 
 nuts relish lime in considerable quantities — his land ought to 
 be more fertile and productive with each succeeding year. 
 Peanut lands suffer, as a rule, from the depletion of the mineral 
 elements. Of course a considerable quantity of these mineral 
 elements enter into the growth of the kernel. 
 
 Now, as the peanut uses a considerable quantity of mineral 
 materials, it follows that if good growth and productive yields 
 are to be obtained, it is necessary to add such elements in the 
 fertilizers. Peanut lands also lose considerable fertility and 
 value through the constant washing during the winter season. 
 This is not necessary, because some growing crops could follow 
 peanuts so as to prevent the washing and the leaching of the 
 soil. Crimson clover is an excellent winter crop. If difficulty 
 is encountered in securing stands of this excellent crop in sandy 
 lands, .a crop like rye is excellent for the winter season. Now, 
 since a rotation of crops is as important in peanut growing as 
 in any other line of special farming, it follows that it is not 
 wise, to grow peanuts on the same land every year. Follow rye, 
 
24 thp: peanut and its culture. 
 
 therefore, with some crop like cow peas or some vegetable crop 
 or eveu corn. Of these, cow peas are of course the best. 
 
 Peanuts, while grown most extensively through Virginia, 
 North Carolina and Tennessee, can be growTi in almost any 
 section of the country. In fact, it may be said that peanuts 
 will grow everywhere that Indian corn succeeds. 
 
 In regard to feeding value, peanut kernels have an average of 
 29 per cent, protein, 49 per cent, fat and 14 per cent, carbohy- 
 drates in the dry material. This composition re.i^ily shows the 
 high feeding value of this product. Not only is t.ho Iccrncl 
 part high in feeding value, but the vines also are shrwu lo be 
 superior to timothy hay as a feeding stuff, and but slightly infe- 
 rior to clover hay. 
 
 A loamy soil of a sandy nature, that is light and porous, 
 produces the most remunerative peanuts. However, practically 
 any kind of soil that is open and friable and that can be kept so, 
 provided there is lime and mineral elements, will do for the crop. 
 The objection to the clay soil is that the pods are stained. So 
 far as yield and weight are concerned, the clay soil has given 
 extremely good results. In fact the peanuts on such soils are 
 heavier than on sandy soils. The clay soils being colder and 
 less active, do not call for as early plant ii g as the sandy ones. 
 
 It has been suggested, previously, tha ' peanut soils require 
 lime, and also phosphorus and potassium IMarl is often used 
 and so are oyster shells. However, comn,.)n limestone answers 
 every purpose for the peanut farm. As a rule thirty bushels 
 of lime make a good application to the acre. Frequent and 
 small applications are superior to infrequent and heavy appli- 
 cations of lime. 
 
 Any one can prepare land for peanuts without a spe- 
 cial knowledge of the crop. Any preparation that will 
 get the soil to a good depth of plow, and then thoroughly har- 
 rowed and pulverized to the depth of four or five inches, will 
 provide good preparation. A common practice is to break the 
 land with an ordinary turning-plow as soon as possible in the 
 spring, and then follow with the harrow and the roller until 
 a suitable condition of the land is obtained. About two bushels 
 of nuts in the pod are sufficient to furnish ceed for an acre. In 
 opening the pod for planting purposes, it requires care and atten- 
 tion, so as to avoid the breaking of the skin of the kernel, and 
 also in selecting the more perfect kernels as they are shelled. 
 
 Three points should be kept in mind as to cultivation and til- 
 
 ll?''!'^-'<A.r 
 
THE PEANUT AND 1T8 CULTURE. 25 
 
 lage : 1. Kill all weeds so that the water and plant food will 
 be left for the plant. 2. Practice careful tillage and cultiva- 
 tion so as to prevent the evaporation of water. Water is needed 
 in the soil for the growing- plant, and the mulch form will 
 ofttimes save the crop. 3. Tillage is manure. That is, it re- 
 leases the plant food and contributes to the feeding of the plant. 
 It is not a question of how many times you shall cultivate 
 during the growing season, but how effectually you do it. It 
 is wise to follow with a cultivator after a very heavy rain, so 
 as to blanket the w^ater in and keep it there for the use of the 
 plant. The common practice of ridged and leveled culture each 
 have their friends. An experiment at the Nebraska Experiment 
 Station showed that the rows that had been cultivated shallow 
 and level made a yield of almost twice as much as the ridged 
 rows made. 
 
 All in all, the peanut is one of our best and most valuable 
 crops. AVhere study and care and skill are given to its culture, 
 it is a remunerative crop to the farmer. 
 
 CULTIVATION OF THE PEANUT. 
 
 II. VV. JONES, Spottsvllle, Vj 
 
 In peanut culture it is of the highest importance that good 
 seed be selected for planting. They should be from the finest 
 nuts of the previous crop, should have been dug early, before 
 frost, and after being properly cured in shock, kept in a dry 
 and airy room, away from rats and mice. - Peanuts, as a rule, 
 germinate well, and one need have little apprehension. that good 
 seed, properly harvested and cared for, will not grow. jNIore 
 failures are owing to indifferent seed, bad methods of planting 
 and putting the seed in contact with the fertilizers, than from 
 any other causes. 
 
 The seed should be at hand and the shelling started early, as 
 it is a slow process and takes considerable time. i\Iany farmers 
 save their own seed and test the germinating qualities by de- 
 positing a few handfuls in a hot-bed or in dampened cotton 
 kept in a warm room. The shellers are put to work and cau- 
 tioned not to split or bruise the kernels by too hard pressure 
 with the "popper," if one is used. If care be taken in shelling 
 and all the faulty kernels rejected, there will be little need in 
 afterward assorting the seed. It requires from five to six gal- 
 
26 
 
 IHE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 27 
 
 Ions of kernels of the Flat or Bunch varieties to seed an acre, 
 at the ordinary distance between the rows, when running the 
 planters now in common use. The use of tar on the seed, to 
 keep moles and other destroyers from them, is not to be com- 
 mended, as it retards or prevents germination by keeping the 
 moisture from penetrating readily to the embryo. 
 
 The ideal soil for the peanut is a sandy loam, in good condi- 
 tion, and it should not be shaded by orchard or other trees. 
 The peanut loves the sunshine, and open fields are best. The 
 soil need not be very rich. A good corn or cotton soil, that will 
 produce five or six barrels of corn per acre, is quite rich enough. 
 A limed soil is best, or else lime or marl should be applied to 
 the crop, either in the drill or broadcast. The light, sandy 
 lands of the Atlantic seaboard produce fine, bright nuts. Old 
 broomsedge fields, brought again into cultivation, though the 
 soil may be poor, have been found to grow the finest class of 
 commercial peanuts. But medium and even stiff soils produce 
 heavier pods than sandy land, and if not too tenacious, such 
 ground is profitable for peanut culture. In fact, any soil that 
 is not boggy, and which will grow corn well, will also produce 
 pindars profitably. Freshly cleared ground makes larger pods 
 than old land. Stiff clays, waxy, black soils and sour lands are 
 not suitable. 
 
 Like other crops, it is best to rotate and not grow peanuts 
 on the same ground two or more years in succession. Well- 
 rotted organic matter in the soil is very beneficial, with lime 
 or plaster to supplement it, but coarse vegetable matter, dry 
 and undecomposed, is detrimental to both crop and cultivation. 
 The coarse manures of the farm ought to be used on the pre- 
 vious crop of corn or cotton. 
 
 The ground is prepared as for corn, by breaking, harrowing 
 and, if necessary, rolling. The soil should be made fine. If 
 it is lumpy it must be rolled, and the roller followed immediately 
 by the weeder, or some good smoothing harrow. If the field was 
 in corn or cotton the previous year, the stall^s should be collected 
 and burned before plowing begins. The ground may be broken 
 in IMarch and left until near the time for planting the nuts, 
 in order to give grass and weeds time to come up. Then the 
 preparation of the seed-bed will destroy the first crop of weeds, 
 which ■ saves a good deal in subsequent work. In no case 
 undertake to prepare the land when it is too wet. Better delay 
 planting a week, or even a month, than do this. 
 
2S THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 In Virginia, Carolina and similar latitudes, the month of May 
 is the proper time to plant. We would rather plant the latter 
 part of ;May than earlier in that month. It saves something in 
 after-culture to hold off a little late. Some seasons, June is a 
 better time for planting than i\Iay, and very good crops have 
 often been grown when the planting was delayed imtil even the 
 last of June. It depends upon whether the spring is clear and 
 dry, or cloudy and wet. 
 
 The land being freshly stirred and made fine and smooth, lay 
 the rows off either with a marker or by running a light plow to 
 the stick. The rows are made any distance apart desired, 
 usually 30 or 33 inches for the Flat peanuts, 26 or 28 inches 
 for the Bunch. If fertilizer is to be applied at the time of 
 planting, the sower follows in the rows behind the marker, 
 drawn by a single team, and the machine is set to distribute the 
 required quantity per acre. As most farmers apply plaster, 
 some time in the season, it is as well to do it now by putting 
 it in with the fertilizer. Thus the latter is made thoroughly 
 dry and fine, and there will be no trouble with the sowing 
 machine. 
 
 As the fertilizer is distributed, the cultivator, closed up nar- 
 row, follows along the furrows for the purpose of mixing the 
 fertilizer well with the soil. Failing to do this by the careless 
 handling of the cultivator, thus leaving some of the fertilizer 
 to come in direct contact with the seed peas, is one, and per- 
 haps the chief, cause of their often failing to come np well. 
 The peanut planter comes on now, opening a furrow, distributing 
 the seed, covering them and rolling the soil over them. It is 
 set to drop the seed at given distances apart. These planters 
 are great labor and time savers, and indispensable in extensive 
 peanut culture. 
 
 In regard to applying fertilizers, there is this to be said: 
 While it has been the custom, almost invariably, to put them 
 on at the time of planting the crop, yet we regard it as a bad 
 plan. Sad experience along this line tells us that, if the ferti- 
 lizer makes the peanuts grow, it makes the grass grow too, and 
 faster than the peanuts, for the reason that many grass seeds 
 germinate fa.ster than pindars. To prevent this, and also to 
 kill a crop of weeds ahead of the cultivation, have the land 
 marked off and the fertilizer so^vn ten days or two weeks ahead' 
 of the planting. In that time the first crop of grass, stimulated 
 by the manuro, will have started to growing, and freshening 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 29 
 
 up the rows with the cultivator will destroy this early crop of 
 grass, and before the second growth comes on the peanuts will 
 be ready for the 'weeder or the cultivator. 
 
 As soon as the plants are up along the rows, cultivation must 
 begin, in order to check the grass and prevent the soil from 
 getting crusty. The implement may be either a cultivator, 
 run close up on both sides of the row, or a light, seven-foot 
 weeder passed over the ground. Lately the weeder is nuich in 
 use. One can get over a field rapidly w'ith it ; it does not harm 
 the young plants to run it over them, and for small grass and 
 to keep the soil from baking, it is a useful implement. 
 
 If, after a hard rain, a crust has formed or the grass is 
 getting a strong hold, the five-hoed cultivator (small hoes) must 
 be run once or twice to the row. The best cultivation is done 
 with this implement. It loosens the soil effectually, and if kept 
 going as often as needed, very little other work will be required. 
 But it is well to alternate work with the weeder to check small 
 grass and keep the field level. During dry seasons the weeder 
 is very useful. It may be used from time to time until the 
 peanut bloom begins to show, about June 20th, in the Southern 
 Virginia latitude. After that the weeder is apt to break off a 
 good many blossoms and thus do harm. 
 
 Unless the season is showery and the land foul with grass, 
 by the timely use of weeder and cultivator at the earlier stages 
 of cultivation, no hand-hoeing will be required to keep the crop 
 clear , of grass. If spots here and there get too grassy, hand- 
 weeding should be resorted to. A little grass among peanuts, 
 after the crop is well established, does not harm them as much 
 as many persons suppose. It is during the early part of the 
 season that this crop needs the most and best attention. After 
 the pod stems are putting out and getting in the soil, it does 
 the crop more harm than good to chop out or pull up grass or 
 weeds from among the plants, Better let all alone now. Large 
 weeds may be 'cut off with a knife, but not pulled up. 
 
 As soon as the crop begins to show a good many blossoms, 
 apply the plaster along the rows, if it was not put on at plant- 
 ing time ; and from now on, begin to work up the soil, a little 
 at each plowing, into a flat bed along the rows. Especially ought 
 Bunch peas to have a good ridge of soft earth at this stage. 
 The soil should be worked up well among the vines of all varie- 
 ties, and higher for the Bunch and Spanish nuts than other 
 sorts. If the pod stems do not find the soil within four or five 
 
30 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 inches, these stems will fail to make any peas. Have the Flat 
 kind lie' close on a broad, flat bed of mellow soil. 
 
 At the last plowing, or afterwards, make a good water furrow 
 in the middle of each balk. This leaves a broad bed for tin 
 vines to spread out on and facilitates digging. 
 
 HOW PEANUTS ARE HARVESTED. 
 
 "W. JONES, Spottsvllle, Va. 
 
 In the latitude of Southern Virginia the peanut harvest begins 
 about the last week in September, and earlier as we go south- 
 ward, until in Florida and southern Texas, digging starts by 
 the first week in September, and even as early as the last week 
 in August, in exceptional cases. The bulk of the crop, how- 
 ever, both of Virginia and North Carolina, is dug leisurely along 
 through October. In some instances the last of the crop is not 
 up in shock before the tenth or middle of November. 
 
 On account of the great value of peanut vines for forage, 
 the tendency of late years runs to the early harvesting of the 
 crop, before severe frosts occur to nip the vines and spoil them 
 for feed. Not only do farmers prefer to dig before a frost 
 occurs, but they like to secure the most, at least of the better 
 part of their crop before the leaves have fallen off much. The 
 leaves of the peanut plant (leaflets, in fact, for the peanut leaf 
 is compound) are the best part of the hay, the part that con- 
 tains the most nutritive matter, and of course if the leaflets have 
 dropped off to much extent before the harvest begins, as they 
 are very apt to do on old land especially, their loss impairs the 
 value of the hay for provender. 
 
 But thei-e is some preliminary work to be done before digging 
 begins. Stakes around which to shock the vines, and billets of 
 wood to put under the shocks to hold them off the ground, must 
 be split and brought to the field, and distributed at convenient 
 intervals, so that there will be no delay when harvesting begins. 
 Small, straight saplings, cut seven feet in length, pointed at 
 both ends, are used for stakes. Or stakes may be split the proper 
 size, of any suitable timber. Any old blocks of wood, broken 
 fence rails, or even stones, will answer to place around the stakes 
 after they are set, to shock the vines on. It is better, however, 
 to use three pieces of wood about two and a half feet long and 
 two or three inches in diameter, setting them like a tripod around 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 31 
 
32 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. ' 
 
 the stake, the upper ends raised from the ground, crossed, and 
 locked by their own weight. The shock is then built upon this 
 tripod, which keeps the nuts and vines from being damaged, and 
 facilitates their curing. 
 
 If the peanut vines are large and rank, it may be necessary 
 to work a double team in plowing them up. Otherwise, hitch a 
 single team to the common turn-plow without mold-board, 
 and with or without a peanut point, as may be preferred. The 
 only object in using a long point is to make sure the taproots of 
 the vines are all severed. The plow should be run on both sides 
 of the rows. 
 
 Men with pitchforks follow the plows, to lift the vines from 
 the soil and put them into small heaps along every third or fourth 
 row, shaking the vines well before bunching them. It makes 
 easier and better work in all the subsequent stages to have a dry 
 soil and clear, sunny weather for the peanut harvest. It is at 
 this period especially that sandv soils are so desirable in peanut 
 culture. Stiff soils, if wet, adhere to the peanut roots in heavy 
 masses, and render the work doubly laborious. 
 
 The shockers follow the other men, putting four or five heap 
 rows into one row of shocks. The stakes are set in the ground 
 at suitable intervals, according to the size and quantity of the 
 vines, and the piles of vines are lifted with forks and laid in a cir- 
 cle about the place for the shocks. Care is taken to set the 
 stakes firmly about two feet in the ground, to prevent the 
 shocks from being blown over. The vines are laid up in large 
 handfuls about the stakes, making a small, upright shock, or 
 stack, the tops being rounded oft' the better to shed the rain. ' They 
 are capped with grass, which protects the top nuts from birds 
 and from damage by rain and dew. 
 
 Peanuts may be shocked while perfectly green, or as soon as 
 dug, but should not be wet with rain or heavy dew. Careful 
 hands shake the loose dirt from each handful of vines, as they 
 are laid up about the stakes, and place them so that all the nuts 
 will be out of sight in the interior of the shocks. The shoclcs 
 remain in the field two or three weeks luitil thoroughly cured, 
 and are then removed to the barn or other shelter for the nuts 
 to be picked at- leisure. Or, the nuts are picked in the field and 
 the vines stacked or housed. 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 33 
 
 
 
34 THE PEANUT A'ND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 HOW TO CULTIVATE AND HARVEST SPANISH PEANUTS. 
 
 E. T. SHACKELPOKD, Petersburg, Va. 
 
 The most important requisite for the successful culture of 
 Spanish peanuts is the proper selection of seed. Only the best 
 improved seed should be planted— seed that for several years 
 have been selected and grown on rich land especially adapted to 
 Spanish peanuts. By selecting this quality of seed it is possible 
 to increase the production from one-third to one-half. 
 
 Almost any soil, except low, wet soil, will grow Spanish peanuts, 
 but a rich, light gray or chocolate soil is best. When the land 
 on which this crop is to be planted has any kind of fallow, even 
 weeds or grass, it should be plowed under in the fall so that all 
 vegetation will be thoroughly rotted before planting time. Land 
 plowed in the fall should be re-fallowed in the spring, put in 
 thorough order with harrows and weeders and all the grass roots 
 possible gotten off. Crops of the best yield are grown after corn 
 or on land w^hich has been cutlivated the preceding year in some 
 hoe crop, peanuts excepted. The fallowing of clean land may be 
 delayed until spring ; but it is always best, of course, to fallow in 
 the fall and re-fallow in the spring. When fallowing is delayed 
 until spring it should be done before the growth of vegetation 
 is large, for vegetation, if turned under late, produces a sour- 
 ness in the soil which prevents a maximum yield of the crop. 
 When lime is used— and lime can be used with advantage to 
 this variety as well as to other varieties of peanuts— it should 
 be put on the land broadcast in the fall when a fallow is to be 
 turned under, or it can be applied in the spring on clean land. 
 From 15 to 25 bushels an acre should be used on land with a 
 fallow, and from 10 to 15 bushels on clean land. 
 
 The planting of Spanish nuts should begin about the middle 
 of May in Virginia and North Carolina. From the 20th of May 
 to the 1st of June is our favorite time for planting them. They 
 peg better and therefore produce better yields when planted 
 during this period. When seasons are not favorable, planting 
 may be delayed until the 20th of June. The seed should, of 
 course, be shelled, as they germinate quicker, require fewer to 
 plant an acre, and yield a stand from twenty to forty per cent, 
 better than the nuts planted in the hull. They should be shelled 
 by hand, and the best of care taken not to break the skins or 
 crack the kernels. The shelled nuts should be carefully picked 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 35 
 
 over, the best kernels selected and all cracked, skinned and 
 shriveled kernels, as well as all small or otherwise faulty ones, 
 discarded. About two bushels of Spanish nuts will yield ker- 
 nels enough to plant an acre. 
 
 After the land has been put in thoroug-h order, rows should 
 be laid off two and a half feet apart with a light turn-plow, 
 
 CLUSTER OF FOL'R SPANISH PEANUT VINES, 
 grown oil tlie farm of E. T. SH.vtKKLi-oi;P, uear Petersburg, Va. 
 
 and when fertilizer is to be used it should be drilled in the 
 rows. The land is then listed by throwing two furrows together 
 and a weeder run over the ridges, making them almost level. 
 When land is grassy, a cultivator with small teeth should be 
 used instead of a weeder. The planter should follow, dropping 
 the nuts one and two in a hill, eight inches apart on clean land. 
 
36 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 and two and three in a hill, twelve inches apart, on land that 
 is grassy, as the plants at this distance can be more easily 
 worked with a hoe ; or the following preparation may be made : 
 After the rows have been laid off, run a cultivator with small 
 teeth down them. This will mix the fertilizer with the soil, if 
 any has been used ; practically fill up the row and get the grass 
 out of the bed in which the peanut is to be planted ; then run a 
 cultivator with mold-boards on, making a slight ridge, follow- 
 ing with planter as above. Use a pegged wheel as a marker, if 
 you have no planter, arranging the pegs so that they will make 
 holes in the soil at the distance it is desired to plant the nuts; 
 drop the kernels into these holes and cover with the feet or a 
 light pole, so that the nuts, when planted, will be from one to 
 two inches deep and abojit level with the soil, not down in a row. 
 
 In giving this crop the first working, some farmers use the 
 weeder just as the nuts begin to come up ; but experience has 
 shown that this is greatly damaging to the crop, as these young 
 plants are very tender and easy to break. The best method is 
 to side the rows off as soon as the peanuts have come up, turning 
 furrows from thein with a turn-plow, small mold-board, plow- 
 ing medium shallow ; then cross with weeders, running diago- 
 nally across the rows in both directions. This will save a good 
 deal of hoe work, and sometimes will take the place of the hoe 
 entirely if the land is not very grassy. When there is much 
 grass, hoes should follow, weeding them out. Then run a culti- 
 vator with small teeth beside the plants. Next use a cultivator 
 or malta shovel. In land that is grassy, the malta or double 
 shovel will clear itself better. Use larger-sized teeth on the 
 cultivator at each working, gradually shoving some soil to the 
 row of vines until the crop is "laid by." 
 
 The last working should be with medium-sized teeth on the 
 cultivator next to the vines and a large tooth behind, forming a 
 bed and leaving a small water furrow between the rows for 
 protection in wet weather. Any weeds or large bunches of grass, 
 such as crab grass, left after the crop is "laid by," should be 
 pulled out by hand or cut off, and care should be taken not to 
 injure the peas in pulling out the weeds or grass. Hoes should 
 not be used after the peas begin to make. As to the number of 
 workings the crop should have, this is, of course, determined 
 by the condition of the soil and by the seasons. Cultivation 
 should be sufficiently frequent, however, to keep the land in 
 mellow condition and keep down the grass. The crop should 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 37 
 
 be "laid by" reasonably late— the latter part of July or first 
 of August, according to growth. During the last working, care 
 should be taken not to injure the peas. 
 
 When stable litter is to be used, it should be well rotted and 
 plowed under the preceding fall. The commercial fertilizers 
 generally used by growers for this crop consist chiefly of phos- 
 phate and potash, with little or no ammonia. When .the vines 
 begin to bloom, and just before the last plowing, a good coat 
 of land plaster over the vines, about 200 pounds to the acre, will 
 greatly benefit the crop. 
 
 The Spanish peanut is the easiest of all peanuts to cultivate. 
 
 IMPROVED .SPANISH PEANUTS, (Exact Size.) 
 Grown by E. T. Shackelford, Petersburg, Va. 
 
 A satisfactory crop will grow on almost any soil except low, 
 wet land. They grow better on poor land than any other crop. 
 Peanuts should be rotated and never planted for two years con- 
 secutively on the same land, but should be followed with rye, ■ 
 peas, clover or some similar crop, followed in turn by corn, 
 with peanuts the third year. Planting peanut crops in succes- 
 sion is not only an injury to the land, but to the crop as well, 
 as it will hardly ever produce more than half a yield the second 
 year. Where peanuts are grown on land that was planted in 
 this crop the previous year, the vines shed most of their leaves 
 
38 
 
 THE PEAXUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 by harvest time. Where the crop is rotated it is one of the best 
 soil-improving crops on the farm. Corn, after peanuts, will 
 make an excellent yield even on poor land. Xo crop can be 
 more easily or profitably grown than Spanish peanuts. 
 
 Spanish peanuts are also more easily harvested than the other 
 varieties. Poles, on which the vines are to be shocked, should 
 be ready by harvest time, which begins about October 1st, after 
 the vines begin to shed their leaves. These poles should be 
 about three inches in diameter and six or seven feet long, accord- 
 ing to the distance they are to be put into the ground. One or 
 two short strips should be nailed securely across the bottom, so 
 
 
 
 
 1 -. 
 
 
 
 
 MkM 
 
 
 %-^iPi'. iTiiiiilinf ■■^mniiHii^ 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^m 
 
 
 H^^^^^iH 
 
 VINES SHOCKED IN THE FIELD. 
 (Courtesy Suttblk Peanut Company.) 
 
 that this strip will be about four inches from the ground after 
 tlie pole has been set into the soil. The vines are plowed up with 
 a single plow without any mold-board, and one or two horses 
 can be used. The dirt should be shaken out by hand and the 
 vines placed in piles with the peas all one way, four rows being 
 piled together, or they can be .shocked as shaken out. The poles 
 are usually distributed over the fields about 15 yards apart in 
 rows, one row of poles for every 16 ov 20 rows of vines, accord- 
 ing to yield of peas. 
 
 After the poles have been securely set about two feet deep, 
 place vines across the strip at the bottom of the pole, forming a 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 39 
 
 bed to hold the vines off the ground. Then shock around the 
 poles with large handfuls of vines, putting the nuts next to the 
 poles, until the shock is high enough, then cross the vines at the 
 top of the shocks, making a tie around the pole and capping with 
 any grass collected from the field. The vines should be shaken 
 and shocked as they are plowed up. In damp weather they 
 should not be packed around the poles, but in dry weather they 
 may be closely packed. These shocks, after the nuts and vines 
 have cured, can be taken out of the ground by poles being shoved 
 under them, handled easily by two men, carried in wagons to 
 any part of the farm and set up by putting one against the 
 other in piles of from six to twelve, and they will not be damaged 
 by the weather. 
 
 An acre will yield from 20 to 30 shocks about four and a half 
 or five feet high, each shock having from one and a half to three 
 bushels of nuts. Some crops yield as many as fifty shocks to 
 the acre, with an average of two bushels or more to each shock. 
 
 After the vines and nuts have cured, the pods are gathered, 
 being picked from the vines by hand, threshed off over barrels, 
 or, as is generally done in the peanut sections, threshed off by 
 machines for this purpose. 
 
 THE PEANUT <' POPPER. 
 
 The accompanying illustration shows a type of the ordinary 
 home-made peanut "popper" which is in general use among 
 
 farmers for shelling seed peanuts. The" popper" is nothing more 
 than a piece of white oak, basket split, or other wood, bent in 
 the shape of a "U" and held in the hand. By the pressure of 
 the thumb and fingers on this, the pods are popped and the 
 hulls are then easily removed from the kernels. Simple as the 
 contrivance is, it saves the fingers a good deal, and is almost 
 
40 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 indispensable. Some hav^ triod peanut sliellers for hulling the 
 seed, but the great number cf kernels spoiled thereby renders 
 their use unwise and costly. The work had better all be done 
 by hand. It is one of the stat^^es in peanut culture where it pays 
 to go slowly and take pains. 
 
 PEANUT CULTURE IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Extracts from Bulletin 84, Arkniisns Experiment Station, 
 by C. L,. NEWMAN. 
 
 The cultivation of the peanut for stock food has within recent 
 years been given considerable attention in various localities 
 of the South, and each year its popularity has increased. The 
 larger varieties of peanuts, such as are usually found in con 
 fectionery stands and are sold everywhere as parched peanuts, 
 are more fastidious in their soil requirements than the smaller 
 but more prolific Spanish variety. The Spanish peanut will 
 grow well on almost any soil that is Qot too wet at some period 
 of the peanut-growing season. It succeeds well in the sauily 
 pine flats of South Arkansas, in the rich alluvial river, bottoms, 
 in the prairie regions, and in the mountain sections. So far as 
 the writer's experience and observation extends, the Spanish 
 peanut wall not only succeed, but make profitable returns, 
 whei-over the cow pea will succeed. Like the cow pea and so>- 
 bean, the peanut is decidedly drouth-resistant, and will produce 
 profitable crops in seasons of drouth, when many of the grami- 
 naceous plants fail. 
 
 For ten or fifteen years the Station has grown annual crops 
 of Spanish peanuts, and various other varieties, for a large 
 portion of this time. As a hog food, nothing has been found 
 that will more cheaply produce a gain in weight equal to that 
 produced by the Spanish peanut. As compared with corn, the 
 standard hog food, one-fourth of an acre of peanuts produced 
 313 pounds of pork, and the same area in corn produced only 
 109 pounds of pork— a difference of nearly three hundred per 
 cent, in favor of Spanish peanuts, as compared with corn. 
 Cattle, horses and poultry, as well as hogs, are fond of peanuts, 
 and thrive upon them. 
 
 The fact that Spanish peanuts will produce large crops on 
 comparatively poor, sandy soil, should encourage their more 
 extensive growth as a substitute for corn; or at least to supple- 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 41 
 
 ment the grain crops when there is a shortage. In South Arkan- 
 sas the Spanish peanut planted as late as the 1st of August will 
 mature a good crop. 
 
 The preparation of the soil does not differ from the approved 
 method employed for corn, but should be more thorough to in- 
 sure a thoroughly fine and mellow soil condition. Some throw 
 together a broad bed, while others plant on the level ground, 
 getting the seed down in any way that is expedient. The prac- 
 tice at the Station has been to plant on a level, covering the seed 
 not more than one inch, if the soil is in good condition as regards 
 moisture, and as deep as two inches when late plantings are 
 made in dry weather. The rule of some peanut planters is to 
 throw up a slight ridge so that the seed when planted one or 
 one and a half inches deep will be at the general level of the 
 ground. 
 
 Only good seed should be planted, and if the grower saves his 
 own seed they should be selected when the vines are harvested 
 and special care taken that they do not heat or otherwise become 
 injured. Only the best seed should be saved from only the best 
 vines. The time to plant varies with latitude and advent of 
 warm weather. A slight frost will seriously injure, if not 
 destroy, the peanut plant, either in spring or fall. 
 
 The object of cultivation is at all times to keep the surface 
 of the soil thoroughly loose, and to suppress all weed growth. 
 The methods of culture usually practiced with corn, cotton, cow 
 peas and potatoes will answer, and the same implements may be 
 used. If rain has fallen between the* time of planting and the 
 germination of the peanuts, an iron-tooth harrow with slanting 
 teeth may be run over the whole field ; or, better still, this broad- 
 cast cultivation may be done with the weeder. This should be 
 done when the surface soil is just dry enough to crumble nicely 
 and before it has become hard enough to bake. 
 
 If the hoe is used after the pods have begun to form, great 
 care should be taken lest the yoimg pods be cut off or pulled by 
 the use of the hoe. If the vines of the variety grown are of 
 prostrate habit, cultivation with both hoe and plow must cease 
 when the plants have pretty well covered the ground, but those 
 of upright growth may be cultivated as long as the presence of 
 weeds or the condition of the soil may indicate need of cultiva- 
 tion. If the soil is in good physical condition at the beginning, 
 the first plowing need not be more than two inches deep. The 
 practice of covering the blossoms of the peanut with soil is not 
 
42 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 only no advantage, but a direct injury. Experiments conducted 
 for the purpose of determining the effects of covering the vines 
 while in blossom have given decreased yields of more than one- 
 fourth, as compared with not covering the vines. It is an ex- 
 pensive and tedious operation that not only does no good, but 
 is a direct injury. 
 
 Harvesting should not be delayed for any great while when 
 the first formed nuts have matured, since these are not infre- 
 quently lost by sprouting, induced by rain occurring after the 
 nuts have matured. Early planting should be examined at inter- 
 vals and dug before there is any loss from this cause. 
 
 The yield of peanuts per acre varies from 25 bushels to 100, 
 and occasionally as high as 150 bushels. The highest yield re- 
 corded by the Arkansas Station is 143.5 bushels. This yield 
 was secured from the Spanish variety and on highly-fertile soil. 
 The highest yields secured at Fayetteville were in 1902, when 
 the Virginia White yielded 113.6 bushels per acre, and the 
 Spanish yielded 109.9 bushels per acre, on soil of only ordi- 
 nary fertility, and without fertilization other than the plowing 
 under of the stubble from a heavy crop of cow peas. This soil 
 was a mixture of calcareous and siliceous formation, admirably 
 suited to the requirements of the peanut plants. 
 
 In addition to the crop of nuts, there is secured, under proper 
 management, a good yield of hay of value very nearly equal to 
 clover and alfalfa, pound for pound. The numerous estimates 
 made by the Station as regards the yield of hay from a crop 
 of peanuts varies from one to very near three tons per acre. 
 
 This hay is usually worth at least $10 per ton, and may be 
 considered a by-product when the nuts are harvested for market. 
 When the Spanish variety is grown for the purpose of being 
 grazed by hogs, the hay may be mown before the hogs are 
 turned into the field, or it may be grazed by cattle, horses, sheep 
 or goats, and hogs then given access to the nuts. 
 
 Spanish peanuts, intended for grazing by hogs, may be 
 planted at any time after danger of frost is over, to the first 
 or middle of July, in North Arkansas, and as late as the middle 
 of August in the Southern part of the State. The most profit- 
 able practices with this variety consist in growing the peanut 
 with some other crop, as corn, or after some crop has been 
 harvested. When .grains, Irish potatoes, crimson clover, and 
 such crops as are harvested in May and June have been taken 
 off, the same fields may be seeded to peanuts. They may be 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 43 
 
 planted in missing places in the cotton and corn fields, between 
 the hills of corn in the rows, or in the" middle, as is frequently 
 the custom with cow peas. In fact, any unoccupied areas so 
 situated that hogs may be given access to them may be devoted 
 to peanuts at little cost and increased profits. 
 
 The Station has fed the whole peanut plant to horses and 
 mules doing ordinary farm work. The animals did as well on 
 this ration alone as they did before and after, on the ordinary 
 rations of corn and hay, and in the summer the advantage seems 
 to be decidedly in favor of the peanut. Only the Spanish variety 
 was fed, and, after the first few days, in such quantity as the 
 appetite of the animals demanded. 
 
 ADAPTABILITY OF THE PEANUT TO THE ARID WEST. 
 
 The peanut seems designed by nature for sections of small 
 rainfall. It loves sunny weather, and does not thrive in seasons 
 of much cloudiness and rain. It will endure without material 
 injury long and severe periods of drought. Give it copious 
 dews at night through July and August, and it will maintain 
 its vigor for periods of several weeks without rain. The strong 
 taproot of the plant enables it to draw up moisture enough from 
 the undersoil to sustain its health and vitality. It is, therefore, 
 a much better drought-resister than Indian corn and other sur- 
 face-rooted plants. It will not only thrive wherever corn can 
 be grown, but will go beyond that, and succeed in districts even 
 more arid and rainless than those in which corn will grow. 
 
 It is for these reasons that the pindar nut is adapted to the 
 regions of limited rainfall throughout the West; the fact that 
 it is already making its way thitherward, with steady strides 
 confirms this. It is now cultivated with profit in Texas, Kansas, 
 Oklahoma and other parts bordering the arid plains; also in 
 California and Nevada, all of which indicates that it may be 
 carried farther still, even into the hot and dry lands of Arizona 
 and New Mexico. 
 
 Whatever rain occurs in the arid region, is all practically 
 during the summer, and if it came in gentle showers at short 
 intervals would be enough not only for peanuts but for corn 
 also. That it does not come in this way, but in sudden down- 
 pours of great volume, at only long and uncertain intervals, is 
 the bad feature of the climate there. Yet the same thing 
 
44 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 occurs in the peanut belts of the South, sudden heavy rains and 
 washouts, to the detriment of the peanut crop. 
 
 On the other hand, the harvest time of the peanut, October 
 and November, is ahnost a rainless season in the dry region. 
 Sunny skies and mild, clear weather is the rule, then, in the so- 
 called arid districts. This is just the ideal weather for the 
 peanut harvest; better, as a rule, than that which prevails in 
 the peanut belt of Virginia and North Carolina at harvest time. 
 
 Surely, then, the indications are favorable for the peanut, in 
 large parts, at least, of the unoccupied "West. That it may be 
 carried farther than corn, is an intimation that it may become 
 the one great staple of all that region, not only a commercial 
 product, but the forage supply for stock and poultry, and also 
 one of the main items of human food. It seems designed for 
 this latter purpose— a famine supply for the preservation of 
 the population of desert lands, where few other things will grow. 
 It is oil and bread in one, and will sustain life of itself. 
 
 HOW PEANUTS ARE PREPARED 
 
 BY FACTORIES FOR THE TRADE. 
 
 Peanut cleaning and shelling is now one of the most important 
 industries in Virginia. There are about twenty-five of these 
 re-cleaning plants in this State, representing a capital of several 
 millions of dollars. 
 
 The nuts, as marketed by the farmers, contain considerable 
 quantities of dirt, vines, sticks, broken nuts and the like, and in 
 the case of the Virginia peanut, the first step in these re-cleaning 
 plants is to remove this foreign matter. Most of the factories 
 are five stories high.- The goods are elevated to the top floor, 
 where they are graded according to quality, and dumped into 
 large bins or hoppers. From these bins they pass through large 
 cylindrical rollers, which remove the dirt and serve to polish 
 the nuts; thence through a series of fans, which blow out the 
 sticks, vines and trash and the worthless hulls which contain no 
 kernels. The goods then pass to the next floor, and after more 
 fanning, which takes out the moderately light nuts, they pass 
 over tables with endless belts, where negro women remove the 
 dark and discolored nuts and the broken and cracked shells. 
 This grade, which is known as Fancy Hand-Picked, drops to the 
 lower floor, where it is put up in properly-branded bags. 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 45 
 
 The moderately-light peanuts, which have been blown out, and 
 the discolored nuts, which are picked out, are run into extra or 
 second-grade of Hand-Picked, while the still lighter nuts are 
 shelled and made into the grades known as No. 1 and No. 2 
 Virginia Shelled. The largest nuts from the Fancy Hand- 
 Picked grade are screened before the goods are finally bagged, 
 and go to make up what is known as the Jumbo grade of Fancy 
 Hand-Picked, while the No. 1 Virginia Shelled are similarly 
 treated, and the largest of these nuts graded as Extra-Large 
 Virginia Shelled. 
 
 The Spanish peanuts are cleaned by the same process as the 
 Virginia nuts, only less care is given them, as these goods are 
 
 mm 
 
 ?>^*K^f :-^J^'i?"^ 
 
 .SORTING PEANUTS IN A FACTORY. 
 
 shelled and the color of the hull makes little difference, as long 
 as the kernels are sound. 
 
 The shelling is done with a revolving drum in a semi-circular 
 bed or grating, the nuts being crushed and the kernels dropped 
 through the grating, while the hulls are removed by a system 
 of fans. Some of the smaller peanuts do not shell, while on the 
 other hand many of the kernels are split. These split nuts are 
 screened from the whole kernels, and the unshelled nuts are 
 picked out by hand, and go through the shellers the second or 
 third time, or until they are shelled. 
 
46 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 SPANISH PEANUT INDUSTRY AT PETERSBURG, VA. 
 
 Of the numerous and varied manufactories in the city of 
 Petersburg-, there is none so important as the peanut industry, 
 which has grown, since 1865, to be one of the most valuable 
 crops in Virginia. 
 
 Petersburg, which is in the midst of the peanut belt, has the 
 distinction of being the largest Spanish peanut market in 
 America. There are in operation in this city seven large facto- 
 ries, not for the "-manufacture" of peanuts, as the term would 
 suggest, but for cleaning and grading peanuts. In addition to 
 these plants, others are in process of building. 
 
 It is difficult to secure exact figures, but a conservative esti- 
 mate is that 45,000,000 pounds of Spanish peanuts are handled 
 in this market annually, and they are shipped, not only to all 
 parts of the United States and Canada, but to France, Germany 
 and other foreign countries. A large business is" also done in 
 Virginia peanuts. 
 
 The capital invested in the industry amounts to $250,000, and 
 $70,000 is paid out annually to 400 operatives. The value of the 
 total output of this market, including the large quantity of Vir- 
 ginia and Spanish peanuts handled by the commission mer- 
 chants, approaches $2,500,000 each year. 
 
 The winter months are bus}- ones for peanut cleaners, and 
 commencing about the middle of November, when the new crop 
 begins to arrive, all the factories in Petersburg are scenes of 
 unusual activity. There is the old negro farmer, with one or 
 two bags, which constitutes his entire crop, as well as his more 
 prosperous neighbor, with several hundred bags. All of these 
 goods have to be examined very carefully, many being rejected 
 on account of not being dry enough to handle ; others on account 
 of being damaged; and still others by reason of not having 
 been thoroughly cleaned. All, however, contain a greater or 
 less amount of dirt, and cleaners say that if they could save 
 what is necessarily paid out for dirt that this item alone would 
 constitute a satisfactory profit for the year's work. 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 47 
 
 VIRGINIA PEANUT INDUSTRY AT NORFOLK, VA. 
 
 In Norfolk the peanut factories were not an accident, but a 
 necessity. The peanuts carried there were not fit for market. 
 They had to be cleaned, sorted and graded before they could be 
 put on the market profitably. One of the first cleaning facto- 
 ries in Norfolk was started in 1876 by K. B. Elliott, with one 
 table, on "Water street. In twenty-five years Mv. Elliott re- 
 tired from the business with a fortune. Meantime his factory 
 was increased, and the trade grew with the addition of other 
 factories, till Norfolk has become one of the greatest markets 
 in the world for Virginia peanuts. The commission houses and 
 factories in that city require $2,000,000 annually for conducting 
 their trade. 
 
 Among the men engaged in this trade in the early years of 
 the. peanut business were B. F. Walters, J. H. Cutehens, B. H. 
 Vellines and W. R. Russell. Some of the older firms were the 
 Norfolk Storage Company, the Old Dominion Peanut Company, 
 the Roper Storage Company and Walters & Cutehens. Others 
 came in from time to time, till Norfolk became the center of the 
 trade. 
 
 About the time the peanut-cleaning factories were started 
 there, a line of schooners was established to bring the nuts from 
 Smithfield and the adjacent country to market. The traffic and 
 importance of the line became so great that it was bought by 
 the Old Dominion Steamship Company, and a line of steamboats 
 now plies between Smithfield and Norfolk twice a day. During 
 the peanut season, which is about ten months of the year, these 
 boats are laden with an average of 1,500 bags of peanuts, either 
 going or returning. 
 
 It is estimated that between 55,000,000 and 65,000,000 pounds 
 of peanuts are cleaned in Norfolk every year, and that a third of 
 the whole crop of the country is marketed there. 
 
48 
 
 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 49 
 
 PEANUT INDUSTRY AT SUFFOLK, VA. 
 
 Suffolk, Va., situated as it is at the meeting-point of five 
 railroads, spreading out like the spokes of a wheel through the 
 entire peanut belts of Virginia and North Carolina, can well be 
 called the "Hub" of the peanut business. 
 
 A few years ago there were no factories in that town, and the 
 farmers sent their peanuts to Norfolk or Smithfield. The 
 natural advantages of Suffolk as a peanut-cleaning center were 
 so evident that, with the development of the business, factories 
 were built, until there are now six large and well-equipped 
 factories capable of cleaning as many peanuts as any place in 
 America. 
 
 Enjoying, as it does, the advantages of competition of many 
 railroads, Suffolk is enabled to secure a more satisfactory service 
 on its outgoing shipments than points not so favorably located. 
 With every condition so favorable for growth, it is not surprising 
 that the development of the peanut-cleaning business has been 
 so rapid that some people have not yet been able to adjust them- 
 selves to the changed conditions and realize that Suffolk is now 
 one of the leading headquarters for Virginia peanuts. 
 
 FOREIGN PEANUTS. 
 
 BtlRTOX H. ALLBEE, New York. 
 For five years Market Editor New York Com 
 
 Importations of peanuts were formerly of considerable im- 
 portance, but in recent years they have amounted to very little. 
 
 During the past year or. two Japan has entered the field as an 
 exporter, and has been able to lay down nuts on the Pacific 
 Coast cheaper than American growers can; but outside of the 
 States west of the Rocky Mountains, her nuts are seldom found. 
 
 Apparently, peanuts grow as abundantly abroad as they do 
 in the United States, for there is scarcely a country in Europe, 
 Asia or Africa which does not produce them in greater or less 
 quantities. The best known are produced in Spain, and come 
 here principally in a shelled state. 
 
 The peanut, or ground nut, as it is universally called abroad, 
 is extensively cultivated in all tropical and sub-tropical coun- 
 tries. In some countries it grows almost wild; in others it re- 
 
60 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 ceives only a rude system of culture, while in others its cultiva- 
 tion has been reduced to an intensive system, which brings 
 liberal yields. For the most part, however, it is grown in 
 foreign countries in a haphazard way, which decreases possible 
 yields and injures the quality of the nuts. 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 No peanuts are cultivated in France, but the largest trade in 
 Europe in these nuts is done in Marseille. During the year 
 1904 the imports to IMarseille comprised 100,971 tons of decorti- 
 cated or shelled peanuts and 97,727 tons of peanuts in the shell, 
 imported from the following countries: 
 
 Decorticated or shelled peanuts from Madras, Coromandel 
 Coast, 95,603 tons ; Bombay, 1,252 tons ; Mozambique, 4,116 tons. 
 Total, 281,668 tons. Peanuts in the shell from Senegal (Ruf- 
 fisque), 45,687 tons; Gambia, 30,450 tons; other parts of the 
 Western coast of Africa, 3,590 tons, a total of 79,727 tons. 
 With the exception of about 2,000 tons, which are sold to pickers 
 in different countries for edible purposes, all these imports are 
 crushed and made into oil. 
 
 Decorticated nuts from the Madras Coromandel Coast only 
 make soap-oil, mostly consumed by the local soap mills, but the 
 Bombay and the Mozambique decorticated nuts, as well as all 
 imports of nuts in the shell from Senegal, Gambia and other 
 parts of the Western coast of Africa, are made into edible oils, 
 chiefly used for mixing with olive oils for salads and for other 
 cooking purposes. The finest oils are made from the Senegal 
 (Ruffisque, Sine and Cayor) and from the Gambia peanuts. 
 All these nuts are imported by steamers in bulk cargoes. 
 
 SPAIN. 
 
 In Europe, Spain is the largest producer of ground nuts, and 
 in former years considerable quantities have been imported 
 into this country from there. During 1904, fewer than 1,000 
 bags came here, and if others were shipped they do not appear 
 in the records. 
 
 While methods of cultivation are primitive, and in one sense 
 expensive, when compared with the methods adopted in the 
 United States, labor is cheaper in Spain. But the expense of 
 transportation to the seaboard, and thence across the Atlantic, 
 increases the cost, so that under ordinary circumstances Spanish 
 nuts cannot compete in New York, or other important markets, 
 with the product of the American plantations. 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 51 
 
 The methods of cultivation pursued in Spain are not essen- 
 tially different from those commonly followed in Virginia, 
 with the exception that the plantations are smaller. In most 
 localities comparatively little attempt is made to increase the 
 yield by following modern and approved scientific methods of 
 culture. On the other hand, in some regions great progress has 
 been made in this direction, and the methods and yield are 
 quite as progressive and liberal as any that have ever been seen 
 in Virginia, and the industry is being steadily improved. 
 
 Little accurate information can be obtained regarding rela- 
 tive yield. While forty bushels per acre is considered an average 
 yield for the tropics, this is somewhat reduced in Spain. One 
 authority says that thirty bushels per acre is liberal for Spain. 
 
 The value of the nut oil, compared with the nut grown in 
 Virginia, is probably lower. The soil in which they are grown 
 does not possess quite the same elements in the same relative 
 proportions, and pound for pound of raw nuts, the American 
 product will probably yield more and better oil. This opinion 
 is shared by experts who have handled many of both varieties 
 of nuts. 
 
 When relative values for confectioners' purposes are consid- 
 ered, the variation is not so wide. Spanish nuts actually pro- 
 duced in Spain are probably quite as valuable for that purpose 
 as Spanish nuts grown in this country. Some ascribe a more 
 delicate flavor to the American nuts. Confectioners buy the 
 foreign nuts and use them as freely as they do any nuts, if the 
 price suits. It is price, rather than any delicate gradations of 
 quality, that finally determines the action of confectioners, or 
 other large consumers. 
 
 Importations are divided between nuts in the shell and the 
 shelled grades. If they are left in the shell, they stand the 
 sea voyage of three thousand miles without injury; but shelled 
 nuts are likely to become damp or heated in the holds of the 
 vessels, and sometimes they are seriously damaged in transit. 
 Proper stowing will prevent this, however, and only on rare 
 occasions would it occur. 
 
 The price of the Spanish nuts laid down in American seaport 
 cities will average about one cent to a cent and a half above the 
 price for American nuts of the same quality and grade. Per- 
 haps, if the crop were short in this country and liberal in 
 Spain, a lower range of prices would be established, but in gen- 
 eral terms this range will hold good. A year or two ago the 
 
52 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 price differences were only a fraction of a cent. Unless condi- 
 tions change materially, Spanish importations will never become 
 an important factor in American markets. Only small quanti- 
 ties will be imported and these will come to special customers 
 rather than to the general trade. 
 
 A large part of the Spanish nuts follow the African nuts to 
 the oil manufactories at i\Iarseille. Some go to England and 
 others are exported to Germany, but probably a larger part is 
 consumed at home, either in the manufacture of oil or in other 
 ways. Confectioners use immense quantities of them, while 
 many are eaten, as in this country. In some localities ground 
 nuts are an important portion of the daily diet. 
 
 AFRICA. 
 
 The peanut of America is the Aracliis hypogcea. The peanut 
 of Africa is a different species, known among botanists as the 
 Vovandzeia Siibteiranea. It is much like the American peanut, 
 growing in the same general way, but is smaller and of rather 
 poorer quality. It differs from the other in many respects, 
 while it closely resembles it in others. Nevertheless it is culti- 
 vated very liberally along the coasts and immense quantities 
 are exported to IMarseille, Hamburg, Berlin and London, where 
 they are used largely for making oils. 
 
 Little is definitely known in this country about cultivation in 
 Africa, but cultivation there is really little more than planting 
 the seed and harvesting the crop. They are sometimes carefully 
 cultivated, but, as a rule, the crop is allowed to grow as it will. 
 Cultivation in Africa does not mean the same as cultivation in 
 America, in Spain or in Japan. It is carried on with the least 
 possible labor. The cost of labor varies with the locality, but 
 in that portion of the world it is very small. 
 
 Notwithstanding the apparent neglect, the plant is prolific, 
 and often nearly or quite forty bushels an acre will be produced. 
 All attempts to secure an estimate of the number of acres are 
 unsuccessful. It is stated that some years ago the production 
 of the African coast was 145,000,000 pounds, valued at 1,040,000 
 pounds sterling. Assuming that these figures are approximately 
 correct, production now, reckoned upon the basis of probable 
 ratio of increase, must be well up toward 200,000,000 pounds. 
 The African nuts are noted for their oil-producing capacity, 
 but they are not considered so good for eating or for confec- 
 tionery purposes. The kernels are small, and while of good. 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 63 
 
 white color and well rounded, they are not what manufacturers 
 or dealers in this country care for ; consequently they will never 
 become direct competitors as nuts, but their oil is in strong com- 
 petition with cotton-seed and other vegetable oils. 
 
 MALAYAN ARCHIPELAGO. 
 
 The peanut grows practically wild in the IMalayan Archi- 
 pelago, and the natives use it extensively for food. In some 
 localities they press it for its oil, though this has not been done 
 to any considerable extent. Two varieties are recognized in 
 this archipelago, as well as in Malacca and Java. One is white 
 and the other is brown, the difference in color referring to the 
 kernels. It is known there as the "minyak katjang," or oil 
 bean. No records are obtainable of exports. 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 In China the peanut is grown extensively. All the provinces 
 in the southern part of the empire are liberal producers, but 
 comparatively few are exported. All that are produced are 
 consumed at home. They are eaten by the poorer classes, and 
 in some localities they make oil from them. Methods of culti- 
 vation are essentially Chinese, which means they are the crudest, 
 hardest and most cumbrous possible. They do comparatively 
 little besides the planting of the seed and the harvesting. Some 
 of the ports which trade with England and France send nuts 
 abroad, but no accurate statistics are kept, and those which have 
 been given out at different times are apparently merely guess 
 work. 
 
 China soon may become a competitor with which other ex- 
 porters will have to reckon. The low cost of cultivation, the 
 comparatively cheap transportation charges to centers whence 
 shipment can be made, and other relatively low values of com- 
 modities and acreage devoted to this article, combine to make a 
 very low price possible upon all nuts which are produced in 
 China. The laborers employed in their production are largely 
 coolies, who can be hired for two cents a day in American money. 
 Such labor almost anywhere else would be considered expensive, 
 but there it is fair pay, and all parties are satisfied. 
 
 The varieties grown in China correspond more closely to the 
 Virginia nuts than any other. Not many of the better grades 
 are now being produced, though the possibility of improvement 
 is being studied with a view of impro\4ng varieties and grades. 
 
54 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 JAPAN. 
 
 Japan is the only Oriental country which has shown any 
 disposition to become a competitor of the United States. Within 
 a few years Japan has captured the Pacific Coast markets. Prob- 
 ably few Eastern peanuts have been seen west of the Rocky 
 IMountains, and comparatively few Japanese or other foreign 
 nuts that enter the country by the west coast have been shipped 
 across the continent to compete with Eastern nuts. The official 
 records show that during the year 1902 the total exports were 
 valued at 29,232 pounds sterling for the District of Yokahama, 
 and for 1901, 34,05-1: pounds sterling. The average production 
 for five years has been valued at 16,459 pounds sterling. From 
 the whole of Japan total exports of ground nuts in 1903 were 
 valued at 34,373 pounds sterling, and in 1902, 36,607 pounds 
 sterling. 
 
 There are some Japanese growers whose entire farms are 
 given up to the cultivation of peanuts for commercial purposes, 
 while others grow them only as a side crop. The soil of a vast 
 area of Japan is well adapted to the production of peanuts with- 
 out the need of fertilization or other costly agricultural methods. 
 The careful work of the Japanese grower is, however, in strong 
 contrast to the careless manner in which the nuts are grown in 
 Africa, or even in some localities in Spain. The aim is to pro- 
 duce as many and as good quality nuts as possible, in an en- 
 deavom to secure as much revenue from the soil as it can be 
 made to produce. If the cost of production could be accurately 
 computed, it would probably be found to be less than the cost 
 in this country or even in Europe. Within a few years the 
 export trade has assumed more importance. Samples of nuts 
 from Japan, shown in New York, have not attracted attention 
 because of their high cost. The quality, however, could not be 
 questioned. Laid beside the best of the Virginia nuts, no one 
 could distinguish them. A number of large importing interests 
 have begun systematic work in introducing Japanese nuts in 
 the different markets of this country. 
 
 In oil-producing qualities, the Japanese nuts are the equal of 
 those in America and Spain. Japanese manufacturers make 
 considerable oil, but, so far as reported, the bulk of it is kept 
 at home. 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 55 
 
 -ARACHIDES IN MARSEILLE. 
 
 HO>'. ROBERT P. SKINNER, V. S. Consul Geueral, 
 Klarsellle, Prance. 
 
 Marseille imported 182,010 tons of arachides (peanuts) in 
 1904, of which 100,971 tons arrived already decorticated and 
 mainly from India, and 80,039 tons in the shell, principally 
 from the west coast of Africa. These figures vary from year 
 to year, according to crop conditions, the local market being 
 prepared to absorb whatever the producing countries can supply. 
 All of this material is taken up by the oil mills, and at least one- 
 half of the total importation is converted into the higher grades 
 of comestible oil, competing on its own merits with olive and 
 cotton oils. 
 
 The shelled Indian nuts yield an inferior oil, much of which 
 is manufactured into soap, while the African nuts furnish the 
 edible grades in high repute. This is the general distinction 
 between Indian and African nuts, although the product of both 
 countries supplies a certain proportion of both edible and indus- 
 trial grades. To-day the Indian decorticated (shelled) nuts are 
 offered in Marseille at 28f.50 ($5.50) per ton, against 24f. to 
 27f. ($4.63 to $5.21), which the African nuts command in the 
 husk. The dift'erence is therefore very materially in favor of 
 the African arachide. 
 
 On several occasions I have been consulted in regard to the 
 probabilities of securing American arachides for this market, 
 but thus far our crop has never been large enough to enable 
 our exporters to share in the business in an important way, nor 
 have the oil-yielding qualities of the sample shipments greatly 
 encouraged efforts in this line. The American nut furnishes an 
 oil that is not famous as to quality, and of such limited quantity, 
 compared with the African kernels, as to have suggested the 
 necessity of cultivating a new variety, if our farmers expect to 
 engage in this business. 
 
 The American arachides or peanuts are now consumed ex- 
 clusively in natural form or by the confectionery trade, and for 
 these objects they are perhaps the best in the world, although 
 the Spanish variety is also highly thought of. In 1904, owing 
 to a short crop in the United States, exports of peanuts to the 
 declared value of $27,065.45 were sent to America from Mar- 
 seille. I followed these shipments, and learned that however 
 
56 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 excellent for oil-making purposes, these re-exported African 
 nuts were much less desirable for edible purposes than our own. 
 Since that time I have been in correspondence with the De- 
 partment of Agriculture upon my proposition to produce a new 
 variety in America, which shall combine both the excellent flavor 
 of the native nut and the oil-giving qualities of the African. 
 If scientific cultivation can bring about the result hoped for, 
 our Southern farmers may be able not only to offer their product 
 in Europe, where arachides are desired for oil-making purposes 
 only, but they may also make possible the creation and organiza- 
 tion of a new oil-crushing industry in the United States second 
 only to the cotton-oil industry of to-day. Should it be impossi- 
 ble to obtain a new variety satisfactorily meeting all require- 
 ments, our planters must then either remain satisfied with such 
 domestic business as they have at present, or grow two varie- 
 ties—one for oil and one for roasting. 
 
 The best oil nuts handled in Marseille are received from the 
 Provinces of Ruffisque, Sine and Cayor, in Senegal. Samples 
 of these seeds have been sent to Washington, for the service of 
 the Department of Agriculture, in connection with the sugges- 
 tion referred to above. They could be obtained, of course, in 
 commercial quantities for planting on a large scale, if anybody 
 wished to undertake any private experiments. 
 
 In iMarseille, arachide oil is preferred to cotton oil, other 
 things being equal. It is to-day quoted at 70f.80 per 100 kilos. 
 ($13.66 per 220 lbs.), as to edible qualities, against 46frs. per 
 100 kilos. ($8.88 per 220 lbs.) for choice American white edible 
 cotton oil. This marked difference in price is due to the excep- 
 tional shortage of peanut oil, and does not represent normal 
 conditions. 
 
 In Europe it has long been regarded as singular that so lit- 
 tle has been done in the United States up to this time in the 
 direction of manufacturing vegetable oils other than cotton oil. 
 The demand for these oils throughout the world appears to be 
 slowly but steadily increasing. 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 57 
 
 HOW PEANUT OIL IS MADE. 
 
 Hon. Robert P. Skinner, the United States Consnl-General at 
 Marseille, France, in a recent report published by the Govern- 
 ment, gives the following information concerning the making of 
 peanut oil : 
 
 "In Marseille the unshelled arachides are decorticated with 
 great care, so as to injure the kernel as little as possible. After 
 the first process, the kernels and shells are carried to a win- 
 nowing machine (sasseur), in which sieves, paddles and strong 
 air currents are so contrived that the greater part of the kernels 
 drop into a receptacle, while the residue moves into another com- 
 partment, where the same process is repeated, and the kernels 
 remaining in the shell are similarly secured. The winnowing 
 process continues until nothing but the husks and red cuticle 
 remain, and throughout the process the agitation of the material 
 is such as to eliminate the most of the red skins. Some manufac- 
 turers make a pretense of removing the red skins separately, 
 but in actual process it is fractured by decortication and elimi- 
 nated in the sasseur. 
 
 "After leaving the winnowing machine, the seeds are intro- 
 duced into a crusher, which compresses them into paste. The 
 paste now passes to the 'chauffoir,' or heating pans. These 
 heating pans may be warmed or left to cool at will. At their 
 base is a sort of drawer, from which the workmen remove the 
 paste to fill their hair mats. These mats being filled, they are 
 taken to the press and the highest grade of edible oil extracted. 
 In order to secure the best results, the pans should be cool, and the 
 resultant product is called 'huile surfine a froid. ' The pans 
 being cool, the proportion of oil obtained is necessarily limited, 
 and, in actual practice, a great many manufacturers heat their 
 material even for the first pressing. 
 
 "A pressure of 300 kilograms (660 pounds) per square centi- 
 meter (0.36 inch) is applied gradually, in order that as little 
 mucilaginous matter as possible may be expressed with the oil. 
 This process being terminated, the mats are removed from the 
 press and the seed cake reduced to paste. Steam is now applied 
 to the mixture, and, when the mass is sufficiently warm, pressure 
 is applied as before, and the product is now known as 'huile fine 
 a chand. ' 
 
 The pressure upon the mats leaves a ragged edge upon the 
 
58 THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 
 
 cake, which is cut off by means of a mechanical chopper. These 
 fragments, which contain a large proportion of oil, are submitted 
 again to the press with the next pressing. 
 
 ' ' On issuing from the press the graded oils are stored in tanks, 
 and, after settling for a time, are pumped through filters. They 
 are then bleached with fuller's earth, which, in the case of 
 arachide oils, is quite sufficient, as they are naturally of a yel- 
 lowish color. "Were they brown, it would be necessary to treat 
 them with alkali — like crude cotton-oil. 
 
 "The ordinary peanut cake is sold for cattle feed at prices 
 ranging from 12 to 16 francs ($2.31 to $3.09) per 100 kilograms 
 (220.46 pounds). It contains 10 per cent, of oil. If the oil 
 seed from which the cake is produced is fermented or otherwise 
 damaged to such an extent as to render the cake unfit for feed- 
 ing purposes, it is sold to oil extractor^, who treat it with a sul- 
 phate, usually carbon bisulphide. The peanut shells are sold 
 to be mixed with bran. 
 
 "According to the Marseille Chamber of Commerce, unshelled 
 arachides yield 38 per cent, of oil. Shelled Coromandel nuts 
 yield from 38 to 42 per cent., and shelled JNIozambique nuts from 
 44 to 45 per cent. 
 
 "The Marseille manufacturers not only supply the extensive 
 requirements of France, but in 1902 exported 29,451 tons of 
 vegetable oil to foreign countries. ' ' 
 
 THE PEANUT AS A FOOD. 
 
 As a food for man, the peanut has a high claim upon popular 
 favor, and there is no reason why it should not be considered 
 a regular article of diet and placed in some form upon our 
 tables. Its analysis shows that the kernel contains 25.8 per 
 cent, protein and 38.6 per cent, fat, possessing a higher food 
 value than any other crop a farmer can grow. United States 
 reports on food stuffs show that the experiments made by the 
 Government point to the conclusion that nuts are not indigesti- 
 ble and ought to be counted among the healthiest of foods. 
 Professor Jaff'a, of the University of California, reporting inter- 
 esting experiments made upon men engaged in hard, manual 
 work, states that nuts are the cheapest source of energy, peanuts 
 ranging far ahead. A prominent Southern physician says the 
 peanut is the best food a man can eat. There are sanitariums 
 
THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE. 59 
 
 and hospitals where the little peanut constitutes the chief article 
 of diet. It is ground and added to bread, made into croquettes, 
 meringe, salads, soups, jumbles, griddle cakes, muffins, pies, and 
 utilized in numerous other ways. 
 
 Peanut butter is rapidly becoming a staple article of com- 
 merce, and it is claimed for this butter that it has these marked 
 advantages : it does not absorb offensive odors, will stand a high 
 temperature without melting, and does not become rancid when 
 made pure. For the manufacture of candies and confections, 
 the peanut is becoming more popular than ever. From refresh- 
 ments on special occasions it is rapidly becoming esteemed as a 
 food. 
 
 The peanut will doubtless become one of the great staples 
 of commerce, to take rank with wheat and rice as one of the 
 most important articles of food supply for the millions of con- 
 sumers in all parts of the world. 
 
 COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND PRICES. 
 
 A bushel of Virginia or Bunch peanuts weighs 22 pounds, and 
 a bushel of Spanish peanuts weighs 30 pounds. 
 
 A bushel of Virginia or Bunch peanuts, of average grade, will 
 shell from 15 to 17 pounds of kernels; and a bushel of Spanish, 
 of average grade, will shell about 20 pounds of kernels, yielding 
 about 17 pounds of No. 1 and 3 pounds of No. 2 Spanish. 
 
 When farmers' grades of Virginia or Bunch nuts sell at 3% 
 and 4 cents a pound. Fancy Hand-Picked nuts, from cleaning 
 factories, should sell at 5 cents a pound, wholesale. 
 
 When Spanish peanuts sell at $1.00 a bushel. No. 1 Spanish 
 shelled, from cleaning factories, should sell at 51/2 cents a pound, 
 wholesale. 
 
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INDEX. 
 
 Acreage devoted to culture, 9. 
 Ameiicau consumption, 5o. 
 Arid West, adaptability, 43, 44. 
 Blossoms, covering, 41, 42. 
 Botany, 12. 
 
 Capital employed in, 10. 
 Commercial value, 7, 9, 10, 23, 25. 
 County of largest acreage, 10. 
 Cultivation : 
 
 Extent of, 7, 24. 
 
 First plowing, 41, 29, 36. 
 
 Foreign, (see Foreign Peanuts) . 
 
 Frequency of, 25, 36, 41. 
 
 Last working, 30, 36, 37. 
 
 Level, 25. 
 
 Methods of, 41. 
 
 Number persons engaged in, 10. 
 
 Preparation of soil, (see Soil). 
 
 Ridged, 25. 
 
 When to begin, 29. 
 Domestic uses, 17. 
 Drouth-resisting, 18, 40. 
 Famine supply, 44. 
 Fatteuer, (see Food). 
 Fertilizer : 
 
 Adapted to, 23, 24, 37. 
 
 Applied before planting, 28. 
 
 Mixing with soil, 21, 28, 36. 
 
 Quantity used, 10. 
 
 Stable manure, 27, 37. 
 
 When and how applied, 28,35. 
 Food Uses : 
 
 Analysis, 24, 58. 
 
 Compared with corn, 40. 
 
 For hogs, 19, 42. 
 " horses and cattle, 18,40,43. 
 " man, 22, 58, 59. 
 " poultry, IS. 
 Foreign Peanuts : 
 
 Africa, 52. 
 
 China, 53. 
 
 Extent of culture, 8, 9, 49. 
 
 France, 50. 
 
 Japan, 54. 
 
 Malayan Archipelago, 53. 
 
 Marseille market, 55. 
 
 Principal uses of, 55. 
 
 Spain, 50. 
 Frost, 13, 19, 30, 41. ' 
 Grades, 44, 45. 
 Harvesting : 
 
 Plowing up vines, 32, 38. 
 
 Preparation for, 30, 38. • 
 
 Shocking or stacking, 32. 
 
 Stakes or poles, 32. 
 
 When to begin, 30, 38, 42. 
 Hay, (see Vines) . 
 Hoes, when to use, 29, 36, 41. 
 Implements— Cultivators, plant- 
 ers, threshers, weeders, etc., 24, 
 
 25, 27, 28, 29, 35, 36, 39, 41. 
 Importations, 8, 49. 
 Improver of soil, 17, 18, 22, 23,38. 
 Industiy : 
 
 At Norfolk, 47. 
 '' Petersburg, 46. 
 " Suflblk, 49. 
 Insect enemies, none, 13. 
 Large nuts, demand for, 22. 
 "Laying by," (see Cultivation). 
 Leaching of soil, 23. 
 Leaves : 
 
 Feed value of, 30. 
 
 Shedding on old laud, 30, 37. 
 Lime : 
 
 Application of, 24. 
 
 EfTectof, 20. 
 
 Quantity per acre, 24, 34. 
 Magnitude of crop, 9. 
 Nodules : 
 
 Bacteria gathering, 12, 18, 23. 
 
 Where most abundant, 13. 
 Qil: 
 
 How made, 57. 
 
 New oil-producing variety, 56. 
 
 Nuts best for, 56. 
 
62 
 
 Index. 
 
 Origin, 11. 
 
 Peculiarities of plant, 12,13. 
 Picking, time to begin, 32. 
 Planting : 
 
 Depth of, 41. 
 
 Distance in row, 28, 35. 
 
 Time to begin, 28, 34, 41. 
 Plaster : 
 
 How applied, 27, 28, 29, 37. 
 
 Quantit3' per acre, 37. 
 Popper, 25, 39. 
 Pops, why prevalent, 21. 
 Preparing for the trade, 44, 45. 
 Prices, 59, 60. 
 
 Re-cleaning plants, 7, 46, 47, 49. 
 Roots, color of, 13. 
 Rotation 
 
 of crops, 21, 22, 23, 27, 37, 40, 42. 
 Rows, 28, 35. 
 Seed : 
 
 Breeding of, 19. 
 
 Care in shelling, 25, 34. 
 
 Causes failure to germinate, 25. 
 
 How to harvest, 25. 
 
 How to improve, 19, 20. 
 
 Importance of care in select- 
 ing, 14,15,20,22,25,34,35,41. 
 
 Preparation of, 24. 
 
 Quantity per acre, 25, 35. 
 
 Special patch for, 21. 
 
 Tar used on, 27. 
 
 Test germinating qualities, 25. 
 Shocks or Stacks : 
 
 Bed, 30. 
 
 How made, 39. 
 
 Number per acre, 39. 
 
 Prejiaration for, 32. 
 
 Stakes or poles, 30, 38. 
 Soil : 
 
 Adapted to, 13, 24, 27, 34. 
 
 Clay, etc., 24, 27, 32. 
 
 Improver of, 17, 18, 22, 23, 38. 
 
 Preparation of, 24, 27, 34, 41. 
 
 Time to fallow, 27, 34. 
 
 Working up to rows, 29. 
 
 Spanish : 
 
 Crop on poor lands, 40. 
 
 Cultivating, harvesting, 34. 
 
 Distance in rows, 36. 
 
 First working, 36. 
 
 Home uses, 16. 
 
 Last working. 36. 
 
 Market crop, 16. 
 
 Poultry crop, 16. 
 
 Rows, 35. 
 
 Seed per acre, 35. 
 
 Soil adapted to, 34. 
 
 Where it succeeds, 40. 
 
 With other crops, 43. 
 Stands, how to secure, 25. 
 Uses, (see Varieties). 
 Varieties and Uses : 
 
 Bunch, 14. 
 
 Georgia Red, 17. 
 
 Jumbo, Running, 16, 20. 
 
 North Carolina, 17. 
 
 Red, 17. 
 
 Running or Flat, 14, 15, 30. 
 
 Smooth-Podded Flat, 16. 
 
 Spanish, 16, 34, 35, 36, 40, 43. 
 
 Tennessee Red, 17. 
 
 White, 17. 
 Vines : 
 
 By-product, 42. 
 
 Compared with clover, 42. 
 
 Milk-producing qualities, 18 
 
 Plowing up, 32, 38. 
 
 Preparing for shocks, 32, 38. 
 
 Stock food, 18, 24, 42. 
 
 Value as a fertilizer, 18. 
 
 Value as hay, 18, 24, 42. 
 
 Value per ton, 42. 
 
 Yield per acre, 19, 42. 
 Washing of soil, 23. 
 Waste nuts, use of, 19. 
 Weights, 59. 
 Yield : 
 
 Annual total, 9, 10. 
 
 In leading States, 9, 10. 
 
 Per acre, 42. 
 
 fmPERTY LWRAHt 
 
 JV. C State ColUil 
 
AMERICAN NUT JOURNAL. 
 
 The Departments and Editors. 
 
 PEANUTS : THEIR CULTURE AND USES. 
 
 B. W. Jones, Spottsville, Surry County, Va. 
 
 PECAN CULTURE. 
 
 Herbert C. White, Horticulturist, DeWitt, Ga. 
 
 CHESTNUT CULTURE. 
 
 Prof. Nelson F. Davis, Bucknell University, Penua. 
 
 WALNUT AND ALMOND CULTURE. 
 
 Prof. Myer E. Jaffa, University of California, CaJ. 
 
 GENERAL NUT CULTURE. 
 
 Prof. C. W. Burkett, A. and M. College, Raleigh, N. C. 
 Dr. J. F. Wilson, Sec'y Nat. Nut Growers' Association. 
 
 PEANUT MARKETS. 
 
 Theodore Stuart, Manager Norfolk Office, Norfolk, Va, 
 
 NUT MARKETS AND IMPORTATIONS. 
 
 Burton H. Allbee, New York City. 
 
 '♦HORTICULTURAL DIGEST" DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Prof. H. Harold Hume, State Horticult'st, Raleigh, N. C. 
 
AMERICAN NUT JOURNAL. 
 
 Some Articles in Recent Issues 
 
 Getting Blood Into Nuts. Nuts On The Farm. 
 The Value of Nuts as Food. 
 
 Pkof. Charles W. Burkett, Raleigh, N. ('. 
 
 Nutritive Value of Fruits and Nuts. 
 
 Prof. Myer E. Jaffa, University of California. 
 
 Peanut Culture. 
 
 B. W. Jones, Spottsville, Surry County, Va. 
 
 Growing Popularity of The Peanut. 
 
 Lynton Lloyd, Runnymede, Va. 
 
 Where Most of The Nuts Come From. 
 
 John Gilliam, New York 
 
 Propagation of The Pecan. 
 
 Herbert C. White, DeWitt, Ca. 
 
 Why Every Farmer Should Grow Pecans. 
 
 Late James B. Hunnicutt, Atlanta, Ga. 
 
 Increased Consumption of Nuts. 
 Popularity of The Walnut. 
 
 Burton H. Allbee, New York City. 
 
 To Prevent Rancidity In Nuts. 
 
 H. A. Halbert, Coleman, Texas. 
 
 Foreign Peanuts— Importations. 
 
 Harvey P. Miller, New York. 
 
TWO VALUABLE PUBLICATIONS 
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 UPON RECEIPT OF S1-00. 
 
 THE PRICE OF ''THE PEANUT AND ITS CULTURE" 
 
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 AMERICAN IMUnr JOURNAU, 
 
 PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA. 
 
THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP 
 IN PEANUT CULTURE 
 
 IS THE SELECTION OF 
 
 Improved Seed Peanuts 
 
 Several prominent growers, who have been 
 improving their seed for several years, for 
 their own use solely, have, at the request of 
 the AMERICAN NUT JOURNAL, devoted 
 larger areas to seed patches and therefore 
 have some seed to spare. 
 We shall be glad to hear from all persons 
 desiring any variety of Seed Peanuts, and 
 shall take pleasure in referring them to such 
 growers as may be able to furnish them 
 with some improved seed. 
 
 na/rite: ror irviF-oRiviA-rioN. 
 
 AMERICAN NUT JOURNAL, 
 
 PETERSBURG, VA. 
 
m 
 
 Advertisements. 
 
 6< 
 
 FOR sale: 
 
 Improved Seed Peanuts. 
 
 THE LEADING VARIETIES : 
 Running or Flat Virginias ; Spanish ; 
 
 Running and Bunch Jumbos. 
 
 PLANTED AND CULTIVATED 
 ESPECIALLY FOR SEED PURPOSES. 
 
 FINEST VARIETY OF SPANISH 
 
 THE RUNNING JUMBO 
 
 variety is the largest grown in this country, 
 
 and yields from 125 to 175 nuts 
 
 . . to the hill. . . 
 
 B5®".-vVrite for samples and prices. 
 
 El. T. SHACKEILFORD, 
 
 PETERSBURG, VA. 
 Reference : Editor American Nut Journal. 
 
68 
 
 Advertiskments. 
 
 
 «.*/^Tl^^TV rTR??-iR]r 
 
NojA^r. ' ' i 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 N. C EXPERIMENT STATION. 
 
 EXECUTIVE OFFICE 
 
 Case / 
 
 . ■ , . I 
 
 5f:e// '-'r'---.-J^.'.:....^ ;:'.:,_).__, I 
 
 Purchased H 
 

Iamong all the I. ' 
 
 PEALERSTHROUGiiU u 
 tE united' STATI 
 
 H 
 
 Ldvertising Rates a' 
 
 rAMBRiOAN > 
 
IS^tHE MOST PROFITABLE ^<^ 
 ifiNDUSTRY ON THE FARM. 
 
 ^5bl^'i'AxN» AUTHiJNTIO AND. VAXilJAPLE 
 INFORMATION OONCBBNINO- "'CaS'^^CniSi- 
 
 TURE OF ALL VARIETIES OF NUTS. 
 
 Jritc tcr Bample copy, 
 
 AMERICAN NUT JOURNAL, 
 
 r^E:TE:Rcr?URQ, va„ 
 
 NORFOLK, VA. 
 
 COLEMAN, TEX. 
 
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