402 FIELD CROPS 



given to keep the soil loose till the pods begin to form. 

 After that time, the ground should not be disturbed till 

 harvest. 



514. Harvesting. When the greater part of the nuts are 

 mature, the crop should be harvested, for if left longer the 

 nuts which ripened first are likely to sprout. The plants are 

 usually dug with a potato digger or are plowed out, though 

 small areas on loose soil can be pulled by hand with little 

 loss. After the vines are pulled, they are left to dry slightly 

 and are then put in small stacks to cure. These stacks are 

 usually built around a framework which admits air to all 

 portions of the stack. The top should be covered to prevent 

 injury from rain, as the market value of the nuts is re- 

 duced if they are discolored. 



After the vines are cured, the nuts are picked off by hand 

 or removed by machinery, and are then cleaned and sorted. 

 The marketable nuts are put into large sacks for the market, 

 while the smaller nuts are fed to hogs or other stock. The 

 vines from which the nuts have been picked are of con- 

 siderable value as forage. 



515. Uses of the Nuts. In addition to the use of pea- 

 nuts in the roasted state, large quantities are used in the 

 production of peanut oil, peanut butter, and other similar 

 food products, salted peanuts, and various peanut candies. 

 The nuts are also fed to stock, particularly to hogs. The 

 Spanish variety is often planted in the South for hog pasture, 

 the hogs being turned in when the pods are mature and 

 allowed to root out the nuts. As both the vines and nuts 

 are eaten, this is a very economical method of producing 

 pork. The peanut vines, especially if the nuts have not 

 been removed, are very valuable as forage, and considerable 

 acreages are grown in the South every year for this purpose. 



