Vol. VIII. No. 198. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



373 



earth in ■which the pods may form. After the ground nuts 

 begin to form pods, they should not be disturbed, or given 

 further cultivation. 



The standard of e.xcellence in the ground nut marlcets is 

 always based upon hand-picked stock. Ground nuts that are 

 picked by hand now bring a higher price than those picked 

 by machinery, but with the present scarcity of labour, and 

 rapid improvement in ground-nut-picking machinery, the 

 time will soon come when a uniform price will be [laid for 

 a given quality of seed, regardless of how the picking is 

 done. At no time after the curing process should the 

 ground-nut pods be exposed to water, or even dampness, as 

 the shells invariably become darkened and discoloured by the 

 addition of moisture. When properly cured, the shells will 

 be covered with a fine, dry dust, and where this dust becomes 

 moistened it adheres and forms a brownish spot. If the 

 ground nuts show the least trace of dampness after their 

 removal from the vines, they should be spread on a Hoor, or 

 stored in a well ventilated building, until thoroughly dry. 

 Many of the larger growers have provided narrow cribs, 

 similar to those employed for the storage of corn, and the 

 ground nuts are kept in bulk until sold. When the pods are 

 thoroughly dry, they may be put into bags as they come 

 from the machine, and either hauled direct to the cleaning 

 factory or stored in small lots. 



The following is a description of American 

 varieties : — 



Virginia Bunch. — Large-podded variety, plant rather 

 dwarf, stems upright, foliage rather light; pods clustered 

 about the base of plant; usually two, sometimes three, seeds 

 in a pod; pod bright and clean; colour of seeds light brown; 

 pods adhere well to plant in digging. The customary weight 

 per bushel of this variety is 22 lb. 



Virginia Runner. — Large-podded variety, strong grower, 

 stems creeping, foliage heavy; pods scattered along procum- 

 bent stems; pods and seeds very similar to those of the 

 Virginia Bunch; pods do not adhere well in digging. The 

 customary weight per bushel of this variety is 22 lb. 



North Carolina. — Similar to Virginia Runner, except that 

 the plant is not so large or vigorous, and the pods and seeds are 

 both smaller. This variety contains a high percentage of oil. 



Spanish. — Small-podded variety, strong grower, stems 

 upright, foliage abundant and heavy; pods clustered about 

 base of plant; usually two seeds in a pod, entirely filling it; 

 pods rough and inclined to be darkened in colour; 

 colour of seeds light brown; pods adhere well to plant in 

 digging. This variety frequently yields 60 bu.shels of 

 marketable seeds, and 2 tons of hay, to the acre. Its seeds 

 are rich in oil content. The weight per bushel of Spanish 

 ground nuts is 28 lb. 



Tennesse Red. — Small-podded variety, similar to Spanish, 

 except that the pods are longer, sometimes containing five or 

 six seeds crowded together; seeds dull red in colour. It is well 

 adapted to stock feeding, but does not sell upon the market 

 owing to the colour and the quality of the seeds. 



Dixie Giant. — The variety known as Dixie Giant is so 

 called owing to the great size of its pods. It is distinctly 

 a novelty; does not yield well, and re(]uires a long sea.son for 

 the pods to mature. Recommended only for southern part of 

 the Gulf Coast States. The seeds are very large, and are 

 desirable for the manufacture of fancy blanched nuts. 



Among the more important uses of the ground nut for 

 human food are the following : It is eaten from the shell, as 

 salted shelled seeds, as blanched seeds, in the so-called 

 *ix;a nut candies' and 'brittle', in combination with pop 

 corn and puffed rice, in the form of ground nut butter, and 



as an ingredient of ground nut and vegetable meats, ground 

 nut meal, and salad oils. 



The oil of the ground nutti^afs commercially to the 

 same class as do cotton seed arid olive oils. Ground nut oil 

 is of a higher grade than cotton seed oil, and of somewhat 

 lower value than first-cla.ss olive oil. The quantity of it 

 that may be obtained from the ground nut will depend upon 

 the variety, the maturity of the seeds, and the a[>paratus 

 with which the extraction is made. The Spanish meats, 

 when shelled and thoroughly cleaned, frequently contain as 

 much as 45 per cent, of oil, as shown by chemical analy.si.s, 

 although not more than 34 per cent, can be expressed by 

 the best of present methods, and perhaps about 28 per cent. 

 by ordinary machinery. The greater portion of the ground 

 nut oil of commerce is manufactured at Mar.seilles, from 

 ground nuts that are bought very. cheaply along the coast 

 regions of Africa, and transported by ships as return cargo. 

 The African-grown ground nuts are very rich in oil, often 

 containing as much as .50 per cent. ' With a coming shortage 

 of cotton seed from which to manufacture oil in this country, 

 there is a great possibility of building up a ground nut oil 

 industry throughout the cotton belt of the Southern States. 

 The process of expression is very similar to that for cotton seed 

 oil, and the greater portion of the machinery of the present 

 oil mills is adapted to the manufacture of ground nut oil. It 

 would be neces.sary, however, to add special appliances for 

 shelling, cleaning and macerating the meats of the ground nut. 



The tops of the ground nut plant, when cut and cured 

 in the same manner as other legumes, will produce a hay 

 that is almost equal in feeding value to the best clover hay. 

 By _ planting the Spanish ground nut in rows from 24 to 

 30 inches apart, and quite closely in the row, and by giving 

 the crop about two cultivations, it is possible to produce 

 from one to two tons of hay to the acre. The ground nut 

 vines and .seeds, when chopped or ground together, form 

 almost a balanced ration for a dairy cow. 



THE CARE OP COCOA-NUT PALMS. 



The first item to be considered by those who have cocoa- 

 nut trees is that the drainage is good, and that any trees that 

 are standing in poor .soil get a dose of good manuie to 

 stimulate them. We have in mind a number of cocoa-nut 

 trees, every one of which was apparently about to die out; 

 the leaves yellowed, and dropped so much that there was 

 only a tuft left at the top. As tlie soil was gravelly and the 

 drought severe, it was evident that there was no lack of 

 drainage. The cabbage, too, had not gone wrong. As the 

 trees were worth saving, the grass was clean weeded around 

 them and cows tethered to each tree as the most convenient 

 way of conserving manure and moisture. Of course, all the 

 trees were not dealt with at one time, and this method could 

 not be so easily carried through on a very large estate. 

 The cattle were hand-fed, and after being a week at each 

 tree the ground was loo.sened and mulched. The effects 

 were marvellous; there was soon no sign of disease about the 

 trees; they put out fresh leaves and soon bore, and bore well 

 all the time. Even though the cabbage may rot, the trouble 

 may not always be the bud-rot disease. The true bud-rot is 

 a very serious trouble, and one prominent cocoa-nut grow'er 

 thought so seriously of it, that he asked the Jamaica Agri- 

 cultural Society to recommend to the Government the 

 compulsory burning of all dead cocoa-nut trees. All cocoa- 

 nut growers in their own interests, should never allow 

 a dead cocoa-nut tree to stand rotting, as these trees soon 

 become the home of cocoa-nut pests of various kinds. (The 

 Journal of the Jamaica Agricultural Socie/i/, September, 

 1909.) 



