236 



THE FORAGE AND FIBER CROPS IN AMERICA 



used shelled by confectioners. It is also recommended as a 

 forage plant, having a wider climatic and soil adaptation than 

 the larger varieties. 



The Arkansas Station states that as a hog food nothing has 

 been found which will more cheaply produce gain than the 



The mature peanut plant showing the ripened fruit and the many-branched tap root 

 with tubercles 

 (After Handy) 



Spanish peanut. One-fourth acre of peanuts produced 313 

 pounds of pork, while the same area of maize produced 109 

 pounds. At the Alabama Station, 503 pounds gain of pork per 

 acre was made in six weeks upon peanut pastures alone. 1 



286. Distribution and Yield. There were grown in 1899 

 about twelve million bushels of peanuts on about one-half 

 million acres, or about 23 bushels per acre. Fifty bushels per 

 acre of the large podded sorts are considered a satisfactory 

 yield. The Arkansas Station produced 144 bushels of Spanish 

 peanuts on a highly fertile soil, while on a less fertile soil the 

 Virginia white variety yielded 114 bushels per acre, and the 

 Spanish yielded 109 bushels. After the nuts have been har- 

 vested, a yield of one to three tons of hay may be obtained. A 

 bushel of the large podded varieties weighs 22 pounds and yields 



i Arkansas Sta. Bui. No. 84 (1904), p. 120. 



