632 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



shelled and thoroughly cleaned frequently contain as high as 45 per 

 cent of oil, as shown by chemical analysis, although not more than 

 34 per cent can be expressed by the best of present methods and per- 

 haps about 28 per cent by ordinary machinery. It is generally con- 

 ceded that in order to make the manufacture of oil profitable good 

 peanuts must be obtainable at prices not exceeding 75 cents a bushel. 

 A bushel of first-class Spanish peanuts, weighing 30 pounds, will 

 produce about 1 gallon of oil, worth about 7o cents, and 20 pounds 

 of oil cake and hulls, which when ground and mixed together will 

 be worth approximately 25 cents, or $25 a ton, as stock feed. 



With a coming shortage of cottonseed from which to manufac- 

 ture oil in this country there is a great possibility of building up a 

 peanut-oil industry throughout the cotton belt of the Southern 

 States. There are thousands of acres of land now lying idle that will 

 produce fairly good crops of peanuts, and their growth will improve 

 the land. By combining the use of cottonseed and peanuts for the 

 production of oil it would be possible to keep the existing oil mills of 

 the South running at a profit to both the farmer and mill owners. 

 The oil that remains in the cake will not be lost, as there is demand 

 for the cake for fertilizers and for stock feed. The process of expres- 

 sion is very similar to that for cottonseed oil and the greater portion 

 of the machinery of the present oil mills is adapted to the manufac- 

 ture of peanut oil. 



Use of the Peanut on the Farm. In sections where the soil and 

 climate are suitable the peanut is rapidly becoming a crop of gen- 

 eral farm importance. In the Southern States peanuts can be grown 

 under a wide range of conditions, and the product can be used for 

 several purposes. Peanuts are valuable as a substitute for cowpeas, 

 especially on certain soils that are not adapted to the growing of the 

 cowpea. In many sections where the clovers and other soil-renovat- 

 ing crops will not withstand the heat and drought of the summer 

 months the peanut will thrive and make an excellent growth. A 

 crop of peanuts for forage can often be grown after the removal of 

 oats or some other spring crop, and although they may be badly over- 

 grown by crab-grass, the tops may be mown with the grass for hay, 

 and the hogs turned in to root out the peas. 



Throughout Georgia and the surrounding Gulf Coast States 

 the peanut is extensively used for planting in the alleys between the 

 rows of corn. The peanuts are planted at the time the corn is given 

 the last working, and are allowed to grow as a catch crop among the 

 corn. After the corn is pulled, cattle are turned in to eat the fodder 

 and the peanut tops. Following the cattle the land is pastured by 

 hogs to clean up everything that remains. In this way most of the 

 nitrogen stored by the peanut roots is left in the soil. 



The Value of Peanut Hay for Feeding Purposes. The tops of 

 the peanut plant when cut and cured in me same manner as other 

 legumes will produce a hay that is almost equal in feeding value to 

 the best clover hay. By planting the Spanish peanut in rows from 

 24 to 30 inches apart and quite closely in the row and by giving the 

 crop about two cultivations, it is possible to produce from one to two 

 tons of hay to the acre. After the hay is removed the pods can be 



