20 



stakes about 6 feet high, at the bottom of which are 

 nailed two or three cross pieces 3 or 4 feet long. Around 

 this stake the plants are stacked with the vines exposed, 

 and the nuts inward. Ventilation is thus secured for 

 the peanuts within, while they are protected from the 

 weather by the vines. 



From 15 to 20 such stacks will be necessary for one 

 acre. The stacks should be capped with grass and 

 remain 3 or 4 weeks in the field until the pods have 

 become dry. They are then ready for a picker. 



Some of the Florida growers have made use of a 

 curing shed. On the posts are spiked cross timbers 

 and on these timbers horizontal poles are placed suf- 

 ficiently close to support the green peanut vines. From 

 one floor of poles to the next is kept a vertical distance 

 of about 5 or 6 feet. This space allows complete ven- 

 tilation and the peanuts remain spread upon the poles 

 until they become thoroughly dried. This method of 

 curing secures a better quality of hay and bright pods. 



The picking of the peanuts off the stems by hand is- 

 slow and expensive. In a community where a large 

 acreage is planted a custom picker may be operated 

 profitably. There are several types which are now 

 offered on the market. One type depends for the 

 removing of the nuts from the vines on the use 

 of a system of vibrating wire screens, and is used ex- 

 clusively for peanut picking. The other type of picker 

 is an ordinary grain thresher with a special cylinder 

 and concave for peanuts. This last machine readily 

 removes the nuts and makes them ready for oil mill 

 purposes, but according to the statement of the presi- 

 dent of one of the peanut oil mills in Alabama, the 

 peanut thresher breaks up the pods and injures the nuts 

 for planting purposes. 



Peanut Hay and Straw. 



Peanut vines make a fine quality of hay if cut before 

 the h'aves drop. Their chemical composition is nearly 

 tJiat of alfalfa hay. Valencia, Virginia Bunch, and 

 the Spanish varieties are the best suited for hay mak- 

 ing on account of their upright habit of growth, which 

 makes them easy to mow. 



Peanut straw (the cured peanut plant after the filled 

 pods have been picked off) has a larger proportion of 

 woody stems and a smaller proportion of leaves than 

 peanut hay, which render the former somewhat less 

 nutritious than peanut ha3\ 



