458 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Peanut investigations. — The rapid extension of the peanut indus- 

 try through the boll-weevil district has precipitated a great demand 

 for inforuiation concernincr the methods of cultivating, harvesting, 

 and utilizing the crop. It is estimated that the increased acreage in 

 Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas 

 was more than that of any previous year, and that the increase in 

 IVIississippi alone was at least 50,000 acres. In addition to the dem- 

 onstration work in connection with this crop experiments are under 

 way to determine the best methods of improving the peanut crop so 

 as to secure a maximum yield of high-grade nuts. A large number 

 of selections have been made and arc now being grown in Mississippi 

 and Alabama. Cooperative arrangements have also been made with 

 the Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station for conducting 

 feeding tests with jjeanuts to determine their value for feeding hogs. 

 While the peanut is of great economic impoi-tance as a stock food 

 throughout the whole region to which it is adapted, it is also a valu- 

 able cash crop. The peanuts have a commercial value for use in the 

 manufacture of important food products, such as peanut butter, pea- 

 nut oil, and various forms of confections. Peanut butter is rapidly 

 assuming importance among food products, and a few of the oil 

 mills which have heretofore given their attention exclusively to the 

 expression of oil from cotton seed are now installing equipment for 

 expressing peanut oil. The high food value of peanut oil and the 

 fact that it is adapted for cooking and for all classes of table use to 

 which olive oil can be put, makes apparent the importance of pro- 

 ducing it in commercial quantities. It has been demonstrated that 

 the Spanish peanut, which often carries as much as 42 to 44 per cent 

 of oil, can be successfully used for making oil. 



The importance of the industry and the fact that there are many 

 technical problems connected with the manufacture of the oil and the 

 peanut butter which are not thoroughly worked out make it necessary 

 that the industry still continue to receive most careful attention. 



Testing gardens. — The trial of vegetables in connection with the 

 purchase and distribution of the congressional seed involved the test- 

 ing of over 2,000 samples of vegetable and flower seed. These tests 

 resulted in the rejection of many lots offered, as they were found to 

 be impure and of inferior varietal character; but they clearly showed 

 that the seeds used in the distribution are the equal of those sold by 

 the leading seedsmen of the country. In addition to the test of sam- 

 ples offered in the distribution, novelties of the trade were tested to 

 determine the varietal characteristics of new sorts. 



Standardizing \'egetables. — The standardizing of strains of vege- 

 tables has been continued along the same lines as last j^ear. Two 

 greenhouse units were devoted to the production of cauliflower seed 

 for the purjiose of determining the quantity of seed which can be 

 produced in a given area. Results are very gratifying. Work with 

 lettuce will be continued, considerable quantities of seed now being on 

 hand for further trial. The selection of tomatoes, which has been 

 in progress for the past three years, has been continued with gratify- 

 ing results. Spinach-breeding work has progressed satisfactorily. 

 A quantity of seed from perfect-flowering plants has been secured, 

 by which it is hoped to eliminate the staminate plant. Beet-seed 



