PEANUT 199 



PEANUT (Arachls hypogcea), often called Ground- 

 nut, Earth-nut or Goober, and sometimes Ground-pea, 

 Manila-nut, Jur-nub, and Pindar, is an annual legumi- 

 nous plant grown for its "nuts," which are really peas. 

 The peculiarity of the plant is that after flowering the 

 stalks thrust themselves into the ground and ripen there, 

 dying within a few hours if they are unable to pene- 

 trate the ground. The Peanut plant is very tender to 

 frost, and is not grown with success north of New 

 Jersey, except as a curiosity giving a small yield. 

 Commercially the plant is of great importance in the 

 South, and still more so in other semi-tropical parts 

 of the world, chiefly for the sake of its oil and meal. 

 It makes an excellent forage-crop. Varieties are the 

 Virginia (Running and Bunch, or White and Red), 

 Tennessee (White and Red) and (smaller varieties), the 

 Georgia (Red), North Carolina (or African) and 

 Spanish. The Virginia and the Tennessee are the most 

 grown; the Spanish has small kernels of good quality, 

 and brings the highest prices. 



Soil. All varieties except the Spanish require a 

 calcareous soil; if lime is not present the plants pro- 

 duce a large proportion of "pops," or shells without 

 seeds. The Peanut will give heaviest yields on stiff 

 land, but commercially the crop thus produced is of 

 little value, as the pods are stained, making them 

 unmarketable. Light soils give light-colored pods, 

 which are in demand. In the North light soils should 



