55° 



FARM, ORCHARD, DAIRY AND GARDEN. 



After remaining about two weeks in 

 the stack the picking should be begun, 

 taking off none but the matured pods. 

 These are to be carried to the barn, and 

 prepared for market by completing the 

 drying process, and then fanning and 

 cleaning. 



The most tedious part of the work is 

 the picking. An expert discriminates at 

 a glance between the mature and imma- 

 ture pods, but cannot pick more than 

 two and a half or three bushels per day. 

 A machine to perform the operation 

 would be a most valuable invention. 

 Unless the management in the barn is 

 carefully conducted, there is great dan- 

 ger, where there is much of a bulk, that 

 the peas will become heated and mouldy. 

 The condition in which the early deliv- 

 eries are often received at market renders 

 this caution quite necessary. In fact, 

 there is as much slovenliness in the 

 handling of this crop as there is in regard 

 to any other, perhaps more, for the 

 reason that so many inexperienced per- 

 sons engage in the culture every year. 

 Until the pods are thoroughly seasoned 

 the bulk should be frequently stirred and 

 turned over. 



A certain classification, in regard to 

 quality, obtains in peanuts as in every 

 other article of agricultural produce. The 

 descriptive terms in general use are 

 " inferior," U ordinary," " prime," and 

 " fancy ; " but these are not so definite as 

 to admit of no intermediate grades. As- 

 suming prime to be the standard, and 

 that the prime are $2 75 per bushel, 

 then inferior will be worth, say, $1 to 

 $1 50; and fancy, $3. Seed peanuts 

 always command an extra price, ranging 

 from $3 25 to $3 50. These were the 

 current prices for the crop of 1875. 



PEANUT, Varieties.— There are two 

 very distinct varieties of the peanut, 

 known respectively by the names of the 

 Virginia, and the Carolina or African. 

 The diversity between them, however, 

 does not amount to a specific difference, 

 the chief characteristics being that the 

 one has a large pod and bean, and the 

 other a small one. The Virginia is culti- 

 vated almost exclusively for eating, while 

 the Carolina is principally used for the 

 manufacture of oil, which cannot be dis- 

 tinguished from olive oil, and is, accord- 

 ingly, sold as such. The standard weight 



of the Virginia peanut is twenty-two 

 pounds to the bushel ; that of the Caro- 

 lina twenty-eight pounds. In the mar- 

 kets they are always sold by weight. 



PEANUT, Seed. — A matter of primary 

 importance is to provide seeds of good 

 quality for planting; and in order to be 

 assured of their excellence, the planter 

 should either raise them himself, or buy 

 them of a person on whose fidelity he can 

 rely. If, after the vines are dug and they 

 are lying in the field, they should be 

 exposed to frosty weather, the germinat- 

 ing principle would be destroyed or im- 

 paired. As a merchantable article, how- 

 ever, their value is not at all affected. 

 Neither should the nuts become the least 

 heated or mouldy; nor should they be 

 picked off the vines while wet, or before 

 they are thoroughly cured. It is obvious, 

 therefore, that the most careful attention 

 is requisite in this matter. Previous to< 

 planting, the pods should be carefully 

 shelled and every faulty bean thrown 

 out; not even the membrane inclosing 

 the seed should be ruptured. It takes 

 about two bushels of peanuts in the pod 

 to plant an acre. 



The peanut crop is justly considered 

 exhausting, but not more so, it is be- 

 lieved, than either of the others with 

 which we have compared it. Planters 

 who have been long engaged in the 

 culture say that the same ground may be 

 planted for a succession of years, pro- 

 vided the vines are restored to the soil, 

 and a moderate application is annually 

 made of guano or other fertilizer. Cotton, 

 under a similar system, may be planted 

 on the same land for an indefinite period 

 without diminution of produce. 



The vines of the peanut make a large- 

 quantity of very nutritious provender, 

 which is eaten with avidity by cattle. If 

 the crop is dug before frost, it is equal in 

 value to any other forage plant. As the 

 pods are picked off, the vines should be 

 placed under shelter, secure fom the 

 weather. 



On account of the profit of the crop, 

 it has taken the place of tobacco to a 

 considerable extent in places where the 

 soil is adapted to it. This is the case in 

 the large tobacco-growing counties of 

 Amelia, Nottoway, Halifax, and Bruns- 

 wick, besides others of less note. How 

 far north the culture may be extended to> 



