LEGUMES, BERRIES AND SMALL FRUITS 



183 



soil, in a warm sunshiny climate with moderate rainfall. The 

 peanut was subjected to a circuitous trip before it came to 

 North America for its intensive cultivation; it was carried 

 from South America to the Old World tropics by Portugese 

 sailors and thence to Virginia with the negro slaves who brought 



Fig. 117. — ^The flower stalk of the peanut, after fertilization, elongates and 

 pushes the developing seed pod into the earth. 



it with them from Africa. Georgia, which is the leading peanut 

 growing state, produces most of our annual crop. 



The Berry Fruits 



Although many wild plants produce berries — and these area 

 natural food for wild animals and humans who must depend 

 upon uncultivated plants — few berries are of commercial crop 

 importance because of their perishable nature. A true berry has a 

 thin outer skin which offers little resistance to loss of water or to 

 fungus attack, making shipment and storage difficult. Of some 

 importance, however are the berry fruits of the Grape, the Night- 

 shade, the Saxifrage and the Huckleberry Families. 



