DISTANCE TO PLANT 443 



nitrogen supply from the air. A good peanut fertilizer should contain 

 two or three per cent available nitrogen, eight to ten per cent 

 phosphate, and about six per cent potash. This is generally applied 

 at the rate of 300 to 500 pounds per acre. Farmyard manures and 

 green manures are not considered as important for the peanut crop 

 as for many other crops. In fact, it is not considered desirable to 

 add stable manure to land the same year the peanuts are grown, as it 

 has a tendency to produce an overgrowth of tops and poorly filled 

 pods. It is better to apply the stable manure to some previous crop. 



Preparation of the Land. It is important in growing peanuts 

 to have the land free from weeds and weed seeds, as it is difficult to 

 cultivate them closely, owing to their viny nature. Generally pea- 

 nuts should follow a crop which has been given clean culture, such 

 as corn or cotton. 



In preparing the land, it should be first well plowed and fitted. 

 It is the general custom then to open up furrows where the peanut 

 rows are to go, and apply fertilizer in these rows. The fertilizer is 

 then covered with a back furrow. Before planting the ridges are 

 worked down with harrows or weeders until almost level. The pea- 

 nuts are then planted about two inches deep in these ridges, directly 

 over the fertilizer. The planting is generally done by machinery, 

 though where grown on a small scale, hand planting is still practised. 

 In some cases, especially on poor soil, late in the season, the ridges 

 are not prepared, but the planting is done on level land. 



Distance to Plant. The Bunch varieties, such as the Virginia 

 Bunch or Spanish Peanuts, are usually planted in rows from 

 twenty-eight to thirty inches apart, but the larger varieties are 

 planted about thirty-six inches apart. With the smaller varieties 

 the plants are usually spaced six or eight inches in the row, or for 

 the larger varieties, twelve inches apart. The planting of all varie- 

 ties is closer together on poor soil than on rich soil. The amount of 

 seed required is about two bushels per acre when planted in the pod, 

 or about half a bushel per acre of shelled peas. Shelled peas are 

 usually preferred, as they germinate quicker and more uni- 

 formly. The smaller varieties, such as Spanish, are very commonly 

 planted in the pod, but the larger varieties, such as Virginia, are 



