WALDRON— THE PEANUT 335 



principal objection to the use of peanut by-products as stock feed 

 is their tendency to become rancid very quickly. The germs, which 

 are hicih in nitrogen content, become rancid and bitter in a short 

 while and should not be kept on hand for a greater period than fifty 

 or sixty days." 



Peanut cake is a stock feed composed of the remains of seeds when 

 expressed for oil and is extremely rich. As hay, peanut tops are 

 worth just as much as alfalfa, pound for pound. Even the entire 

 plant is used, and often chopped fine for this purpose. It forms 

 a well balanced ration for dairy cows. 



Use as a Soil Renovator. Here again the peanut is rapidly be- 

 coming a crop of much importance. Peanuts are valuable as a 

 substitute for cowpeas, especially in certain soils that are not adapted 

 to the growing of the cowpea. In many sections where the clovers 

 and other soil-renovating crops will not withstand the heat and 

 drought of the summer months the peanut will thrive and make an 

 excellent growth. A crop of peanuts for forage can often be grown 

 after the removal of oats or some other spring crop, and although 

 they may be badly overgrown by crab-grass, the tops may be mown 

 with the grass for hay, and the hogs turned in to root out the peas. 



Miscellaneous Uses. The oil, beside its use as a food, is valuable 

 "in soap making, in lubrication and for illumination in some countries. 

 The shell is often ground into a fine powder for polishing tin plate. 

 It is said that tin plate manufacturers cannot get enough since this 

 and middlings are the only two things that will put that mirror- 

 like polish on tinware and not leave a scratch on the surface. 



Summary of Results 



The results of these investigations concerning the histology and 

 physiology of Arachis present marked features which are summariz- 

 ed as follows: 



I. It was found that root hairs were present on the plant, although 

 reported as absent by two previous workers. These were usually 

 arranged in rosettes at and on the base of side roots. Their growth 

 is stimulated by a high temperature and humidity. The normally 

 produced tip hairs appeared on very young plants whose roots grew 

 rapidly and were exposed to moist air conditions. Later they never 

 formed unless the plant showed a sudden renewal of growth vigor. 

 Saturated and heavy soil conditions retarded the growth of the 

 rosette type and inhibited the appearance of the tip hairs. 



