ARACHIS 



HYPOO^EA THE EARTH OR PEA NUT 



Ground-nut 



less, always inferior as an oil plant, just as the American plant is so, com- 

 pared with the special oil forms of East Africa. Mr. E. Solly reported 

 to the Royal Asiatic Society (Committee of Commerce and Agriculture) 

 in 1838, that he found the Indian ground-nut to contain 45*5 per cent, of 

 oil. O'Conor tells us that in 1878-9 the husked seed yielded from 33 

 to 50 per cent, of oil. It thus seems highly probable that the present 

 average, ascertained by Leather, may have prevailed ever since India 

 participated in the world's supply of the nut. But within recent years the 

 Indian plant has been subject to several diseases, and may have become 



Less Popular. in consequence less profitable to the cultivators than was formerly the 

 case. 



Diseases. Diseases and Pests- In The Agricultural Journal of India (i., pt. ii., 



170-1) there will be found a short note by C. A. Barber on this subject. 

 " The pests attacking ground-nut are comparatively few, the principal ones 

 being ' Surul ' or ' Mudupuchi ' and ' Tikka.' The latter is a fungoid disease 

 which is not at present very serious in this part of India and apparently prevails 

 in damp, close weather. Surul on the other hand is universally present and does 

 great damage. The word ' Surul ' means a ' curling,' and is dependent on the 

 habit of the insect of burrowing inside the tissues of the leaves, which curl up and 

 get distorted. The chrysalis is formed in a fold of the leaf. The insect is a 

 minute dark moth (A.nacamimifi neoctoi-ia, Meyr.) of very active habits and is 

 probably nocturnal. On walking over the fields a constant shower of disturbed 

 insects may be seen that quickly seek shelter under the neighbouring leaves. The 

 walls of bungalows in the neighbourhood are sometimes blackened at night by 

 millions of the moths attracted by the bright lights. 



" The Surul puchi appears to prefer laying one egg in each leaflet, which 

 speedily turns brown and withers. In a bad attack the whole field assumes a 

 blackened or blasted appearance. As is the case with most pests of this 

 class, showers of rain are most beneficial, while hot sun and dry air lead to rapid 

 increase, whether in dry or irrigated crops. 



" From the internal working of the caterpillar it is doubtful whether spraying 

 will be of much use, but, on the other hand, it seems probable that light traps 

 may help in destroying the moths at night." 



Soils. The ground-nut requires a sandy loam, light and porous, with 

 plenty of lime, free subsoil drainage and a liberal supply of water. In Madras, 

 according to C. K. Sabba Rao, the best soil is ash-coloured, absorptive and 

 fairly retentive of moisture. The nut, however, is most generally grown on the 

 more prevalent red sandy loams, but the opinion prevails that the darker the 

 soil the darker the nut and the less desirable for seed purposes. Mr. Handy 

 urges this same fact, namely that a light-coloured soil gives a light-coloured pod 

 and thus improvesthe selling value as an article of food, though, he adds, " equally 

 sound and well-flavoured nuts may be produced on other soils." Sabba Rao 

 further observes that salt soils are unsuited, though stony soils rich in sand (if 

 well manured) may yield a highly profitable return, while clayey soils are quite 

 unsuited. In South Arcot, he tells us that the ground-nut had displaced indigo, 

 since it is more profitable ; on the soil on which the one crop flourishes the other 

 may be equally successfully grown. Mollison, speaking of Bombay, observes 



Black Land. that although raised on black land it delights in a good loam. But he adds that 

 a heavy crop cannot be got without manuring and careful tillage. 



Rotation. Rotation of Crops. Sabba Rao remarks that the raiyats are unanimously 



of opinion that ground-nut is an exhausting crop and that it cannot be culti- 

 vated uninterruptedly without the liberal use of manure. The rotation, which 



Madras Method, they observe, is with the second crop off the same field within the year, a 

 rest being given every fourth or fifth year. " In the majority of cases, in South 

 Arcot, the crop is sown amongst a standing crop of kambu (Pennisetmn tyi>i>oi- 



Mixed Crops. fei), rdgi (Eietisine Coracaiia) or other crop when the latter is being hand- 

 hoed. In places where the crop has been recently introduced and plenty of good 



Dotation. manure is available, it is cultivated either year after year on the same land, or 



only with an intervening crop at intervals of 4 or 5 years, whilst in some villages 

 of the Shiyali taluk it is cultivated without intermission. In the neighbourhood 

 of Panruti . . . the crop is changed once in 4 or 5 years." Sabba Rao next 

 gives particulars of the various crops with which ground-nut may be rotated and 



78 



Soils. 



Light-coloured 

 Soils. 



