TilK IJU1.LKT1N. 25 



just after llicy liiii.sh i)l:iiiting peanuts. Unless lime is used — especially is this 

 true in regard to llie liuiicii jjca — the per eeiit of pops or faulty peas will be too 

 great. We can get lime for about $4 to $5 per ton at the mills; it is cheap 

 enough, and it pays a large per cent on the investment if we do have to haul 

 it some distance. It is not necessary, however, to lime the same piece of land 

 every year in succession, after the land has been well limed. A thorough liming 

 once in two or tliree _\ears is sullicient. 



For the host all around results peanuts should be planted between the first and 

 tenth of May. The per cent of heavy peas will be greater by having more time 

 to grow. Some years late peas do very well. Tlie most successful crop of peas 

 I raised last year 1 planted in June. They required but very little work to 

 cultivate them, they were ready for digging late, after the warmest weatlier was 

 gone, consequently very few mildewed. But there were very few left in the land 

 for hogs. 1 had to dig them before the late peas matured, consequently I saved 

 the heavy peas around the tap-root. 



The success of cultivating a peanut crop depends largely on the manner, of 

 planting. Planting time is the time to look out for the hard labor during the 

 long hot summer days. However, the manner of planting must depend on the 

 kind of soil we are cultivating. Bunch peas should be planted eight or ten 

 inches apart in the drill, according to the strength of the land, and running peas 

 ten or twelve inches. The rows should be three feet apart usually; on very 

 fertile land they may be farther apart. However, bunch peas may be cultivated 

 very successfully in rows two and one-half feet apart on thin, poor soil. I 

 usually plant bunch peas in two and one-half feet rows, but if we have a rainy 

 season, and the peanuts get grassy, there is trouble on hand. Then we need a 

 wider middle in which to kill the grass. Some of the best peanut farmers use 

 three-feet rows altogether. 



If the land is light and we expect to cultivate our crop mostly with plows and 

 cultivators, peanuts should be planted as near on a level as possible. This can 

 be done by listing the land with a small wing, then dragging the rows clown with 

 a harrow. I have used the five-shovel cultivator for listing peanut land with 

 very good results where the land is open. In this case I took off the rear shovel, 

 and used large shovels on the middle standards, thereby making a small list. 

 In heavy soil they have to be planted on a list, otherwise they would be trouble- 

 some to cultivate. 



Many farmers make the great mistake of being stingy with seed-peas. Gentle- 

 men, this is the poorest economy in the world. The men who plant my peas 

 always speak of sowing them, and they are about right. As I have said before, 

 the success of the crop depends more on getting a stand at first planting than 

 anything else. It pays to plant a tliird more to the acre than the allotted quan- 

 tity and get a good stand, rather than plant just the allotted quantity, which 

 is usually half a bushel, and get three-fourths of a stand and have to 

 replant. Replanted peas rarely ever pay. If a man expects to tend his crop with 

 cultivators and weeders he just as well allow for some being torn up; it will 

 surely be done. If you have them thick this does not ni'ike much difTerenee, 

 but when a man is running a weeder or cultivator and the stand is poor, it hurts 

 him much worse to cut them up. I have run a weeder and cultivator a good 

 deal myself, and I know. So be sure, gentlemen, that you put enough good seed 

 in the ground the first time to get a good stand. 



As to the cultivation of the crop, the method depends to a great extent on the 

 kind of soil. On light thin soil peanuts can be cultivated with practically no 

 hoe work, if taken in time, by the use of cultivators and weeders. On such soil 

 it makes very little difi"erence with the small plant if it is covered with a thin, 

 layer of soil. As soon as the peanut comes up and the fine srrass starts, we run a 

 cultivator (Jones, Cherry, or Woohird harrow) over the field, covering up grass, 

 and peas also, to a great extent. This can be done much more successfullv if the 

 peas are planted on a level. On stiffer, heavier soil, this ennnot be depended 

 upon, for where the Innd is at all hard the above-named cultivators cannot be 

 worked successfully. Where the land is open and in good condition, the peanut 

 weeder can be used to quite an advantage. If iised in time the crop can be kept 

 practically clean by running in several directions. One who has never used 

 one of these weeders would be surprised at the small number of plants it destroys, 

 especially if the teeth are kept clear of stubble. 



