24 The Bulletin. 



you have for seed; others said select a place where you think the peas are best, 

 dig tliem a week or so before you do those you dig for market — that is, before 

 they have fully matured — put them in small stacks and as soon as they are dry 

 enough put them under a good shelter. It is the latter plan that I have adopted, 

 and if the weathi-r conditions are favorable and the soil in a good condition, I 

 never have any trouble getting a stand. Whenever I put them in the ground tlie 

 right depth, they come up. It is raucli better to get them housed before the 

 stacks ever get wet; and by all means have seed-peas picked by hand. There 

 is danger of a machine cracking the Inill, if not the kernel, and the hull of a pea 

 should not be broken till in the sjjring, when it is to be planted. 



Some people have the idea that just so the pea will germinate and come up, 

 that is all that is necessary. This is a very mistaken idea. There is just as 

 much difl'erence between a healthy strong plant and an inferior plant as there is 

 between a healthy pig and a runt pig. (Some gentleman has said it will pay 

 to knock a runt pig in the head and buy a good one, and I agree with him. ) 

 After I have my peas popped I go over them and assort them very carefully, 

 taking out all those I don't think will germinate and make strong plants — the 

 broken ones, discolored ones, and those with the germ end black or shriveled; 

 not that they will not come up, for some of them will, but that I prefer the 

 healthy strong plant. Last spring I took a number of these faulty peas, and 

 halves with the germ attached to the side and planted them in the garden as an 

 experiment. Nearly all of them came up, but they were small, frail plants, not 

 worthy of being found in a man's field. Gentlemen, we cannot be too careful 

 as to the selection of seed. It is so little trouble to plant well-selected seed, 

 and such a great loss of time and money to cultivate a poor stand of inferior 

 peanut plants. 



As to the kind of soil most suitable to the peanut, there are various opinions. 

 You will hear people say that the lighter the land the more suitable it is for 

 peanuts; others, that a medium light soil is better; and still others say it 

 makes very little difference. The main reason why the peanut crop and light 

 sandy soil are associated is, that such soils will produce more to the acre in 

 peanuts than any other crop we can plant, especially if the flat pea is planted. 

 Peanuts raised on such soils are much whiter and prettier than those produced 

 on a darker soil. However, my experience is that a medium light land suits 

 peanuts best. The hulls are bright enough, the peanuts heavier, and the yield 

 a great deal larger per acre. The best peanut fanners, or rather those who 

 raise most to the acre, in our coimty, are those whose farms are of a medium 

 soil. They will grow very well on stiff land, but they are more difficult to culti- 

 vate, and if the land is black the peas are not so bright. 



It matters not what kind of land you have, unless you look carefully to the 

 preparation of the soil for planting your peanut crop will be inferior.. The 

 more thoroughly pulverized the land is at the time of planting the better the 

 result. It is preferable not to flush peanut land too early, so that it has to take 

 the heavy rains of early spring. Get your land in a mellow, pulverized condition, 

 and if you expect to use cultivators, rem,ove#all the trash and stubble possible. 

 No man can successfully use such implements as the Jones and Ghorrry cultivators 

 and Woolard harrow if the land has wire-grass, stubble, or trash of any kind in 

 it to any extent. So, much of the trouble of cultivating the crop can be dispensed 

 with by thoroughly preparing the land beforehand. 



In preparing for the peanut crop so many people underestimate the value of 

 lime. Unless the land contains marl, which will take tlie place of lime, lime is 

 very necessary to the successful production of peanuts. For bunch peanuts I 

 may say it is absolutely essential. As to the best method of using lime there 

 is very little difference, just so we get it into the land. The earlier we can get 

 it on the land the better. If one is going to use over three or four hundred 

 pounds to t)ie acre it is better to broadcast it. Smaller quantities may be drilled 

 in the row early and tlien at planting time run a cotton plow down the row and 

 mix it with llie soil, throwing some of it out on the sides. In no case should the 

 fertili/'er and lime be put down together in the same drill. The chemical action 

 of the lime lessens the efTiciency of the fertilizer. It is getting to be the custom in 

 my neighlmrhood to dril] the lime on top of the row soon after the peas are 

 plant I'll. Tlic icsiills arc alidut as good, and the farmers are not quite so busy 



