624 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



to shed water. Occasionally a few vines should be hung around the 

 stake in order to tie the stack together. By this method the pods will 

 be near the center and around the stake, where there is an upward 

 circulation of air and general protection. When the stack has 

 reached the desired height, a bunch of vines is rolled together and 

 pressed down over the point of the stake to form a top, or a little dry 

 grass or weeds may be used for this purpose. 



It is not advisable to use anything for topping out the small 

 stacks that will prevent the circulation of air. A heavy cover or a 

 covering of green or wet hay will invariably cause the peanuts to 

 spoil. 



The majority of growers follow the practice of placing the stacks 

 singly in rows in the field where the crop is grown ; others arrange 

 them in groups of from four to ten, while some growers haul the crop 

 to a stacking yard, where the stacks are built closely together. 



Storage in barns is not advisable, either when curing peanuts for 

 market or where the entire plant is fed to stock, as the crop may be 

 handled more economically and a better grade of hay produced by 

 putting it up in the small stacks. After the peanuts have cured in the 

 stacks from four to six weeks, those intended for feeding to stock may 

 be placed in barns. 



Picking and Cleaning. Peanuts for market should be cured in 

 the stack at least three or four weeks before picking. If the weather 

 is dry and windy immediately after harvesting, the curing process 

 will be quite rapid, but should the weather conditions be unfavorable 

 during this period the pods will ripen more slowly. Too rapid curing 

 is not desirable, as the pods are likely to shrivel and discolor. Peanuts 

 should not be picked from the vines until the pods have become dry 

 and the peas firm and nutty, with the immature ones more or less 

 shrunken. As a rule very little is to be gained by early marketing, 

 and a better grade of peanuts will be secured if picking is deferred 

 until late autumn. If the pods are not well protected in stacking, 

 many will be destroyed by the common crow. In some sections it is 

 necessary to pick as early as possible to prevent heavy loss from the 

 ravages of field mice and rats while the peanuts are in the stack. If 

 peanuts are not well stacked the pods are liable to become discolored 

 by the heavy fogs and driving rains of late autumn. The stacks 

 should not be opened nor the vines handled during wet weather. 



Picking by Hand. The standard of excellence in the peanut 

 markets is always based upon hand-picked stock, but with the present 

 scarcity of labor and rapid improvement in peanut-picking machin- 

 ery the time has come when a uniform price is paid for a given qual- 

 ity of peas regardless of how the picking is done. Hand picking is at 

 best a dusty and laborious task and is usually done by the women and 

 children. Where the vines are well set with pods a good picker will 

 handle from 8 to 12 bushels a day. The cost of picking the peanuts 

 grown on an acre will vary from $4 to $8. 



Use of Machines for Picking. Two types of machine are em- 

 ployed for picking peanuts from the vines. A cylinder machine sim- 

 ilar to regular grain separator except as to size has been used for sev- 



