NUTS 



191 



peanuts. They yield from forty to more than one hun- 

 dred bushels per acre. 



Planting. 

 The shelled 

 nuts or the 

 seeds left in 

 the shell are 

 planted in the 

 spring. The 



soil is plowed and 

 harrowed to make a 



PEANUT PLANT 



loose seed bed, and 



the seeds are planted about two inches deep and ten or 

 twelve inches apart in the rows. They are cultivated 

 to keep the ground loose and to kill weeds. 



Harvesting. In the fall they are harvested by plow- 

 ing up the nuts and then throwing the vines and nuts 

 in piles. These piles are made by stacking the plants 

 around stakes driven into the ground. In these stacks, 

 which are about two feet across and live feet high, 

 the nuts and vines are dried and cured. They are 

 then hauled to some spot in the field or to a shed where 

 the nuts are picked off the vines by hand or machine. 



