FIELD, ORCHARD, AND GARDEN CROPS 



139 



sembling olive oil. The vines, properly cured, make excellent hay, 

 which is relished by all stock. Peanuts are often grown as a crop 

 to be harvested by hogs. An acre of peanuts will make more pork 

 than an acre of cowpeas or corn. 



The soil should be kept loose by cultivation till the vines run 

 freely. The plant flowers like a pea on the vine and then forms 

 the nut at the end of the flower spike. This turns down into the 

 ground and matures underground. The crop is harvested before 

 frost, and the vines are shocked around poles. When dry, the nuts 

 are picked off. 



Courtesy of West Virginia Agricultural Station 



A CROP OF TIMOTHY HAY WHICH YIELDED 8,527 LB. TO THE ACRE 



Curing Hay. The feeding value of hay crops depends largely 

 on the time of cutting and the method of curing, or drying. Cut 

 too early, plants are immature, sappy, and lack nourishment. Cut 

 too late, the nourishment has gone to form seeds, and the stems 

 are hard and woody. When it flowers fully, the whole plant is 

 in the best condition for hay, full of nourishing juices. 



It requires care and experience to cure hay properly. Much 

 depends on the weather before and during the season of curing. 



