FORAGE PLANTS OF THE FAMILY LEGUMINOS,E 205 



linoleums, soap stock, as a substitute for butter, lard and salad oils. The 

 green beans can be canned, or used as a green vegetable. 



Peanut (Arachis hypogaea). The ground nut, or goober, is an annual 

 semi-erect, or trailing plant with stems one to two feet long, branching 

 and hairy. The leaves are pinnately compound usually with two pairs 

 of subsessile entire leaflets and no tendrils. The stipules are linear-lan- 

 ceolate and adherent to the base of the petiole. The flowers are axillary, 

 sessile and orange-yellow in color (Fig. 88). Two forms of flowers occur 

 on the same plant. The larger, more terminal ones are usually sterile, 

 while the axial are more numerous, smaller and usually fertile. The 

 flowers have ten monadelphous stamens. The gynophore, geotropic in 

 reaction, elongates after flowering and fertilization, and carries downward 

 the developing ovary until it is buried in the ground, where it matures 

 into an indehiscent pod with a reticulated surface (Fig. 88). The shell is 

 the pericarp, the thin skin surrounding the seeds is the testa or outer seed 

 coat. The cotyledons are large and full of stored food. If the ovary is 

 not buried underground, it fails to develop. The varieties cultivated in 

 America may be divided into the large-podded, or jumbo peanuts, Vir- 

 ginia Bunch, Virginia Runner, Dixie Giant and the Spanish, African and 

 Tennessee Red, which are small-podded. The main types may again be 

 subdivided into the bush and the running kinds. 



Seeding and Cultivation. A good grade of seed should alone be used 

 in planting peanuts in the spring after the soil has become warm, and 

 therefore, a trifle later than corn. Thirty six inches should be left be- 

 tween the rows. As a rule, one and a half pecks of shelled Virginia pea- 

 nut should be used to plant an acre, or one and a quarter bushels, if 

 planted inclosed in the shell. On heavy soils, three fourths to one inch 

 and a quarter will be sufficient depth to plant the seeds, while on light, 

 sandy soils one inch and a half to two inches may not be too deep. Culti- 

 vation of the peanut crop should begin immediately after planting and 

 continue until the vines occupy the ground. Frequent shallow cultiva- 

 tion will keep the soil loose and prevent the loss of moisture. After the 

 peanuts begin to "peg," or form pods, they should not be disturbed, or 

 given cultivation. Most implements used in cultivating corn, or cotton 

 will be found suitable for the peanut crop. The crop should be dug before 

 the first frost, as if deferred too long, the first-formed pods are likely to 

 burst their shells and start growing. Usually the peanuts are plowed 

 from the ground with a one-horse turning plow and afterward separated 



