276 



2^W ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



1. Flowers. 2. Leaves. 3. Peanuts. 



PEANUTS — THEIR CULTIVATIOK AND USE. 



Being a readpr of yonr valuable paper, I take 

 the liberty to ask you where I can get the seed of 

 the peanut, and how much is required for the acre, 

 and for such other information as you may be 

 able to give in relatioa to the cultivation of this 

 plj'nt. P. H. Casey. 



Lenox, Mass., March 31, 1870. 



Information in regard to raising peanuts, would 

 be gratefully received through the Farmer. 



J. R. GURNEY. 



South Hanover, Mass., April 6, 1870. 



K.EMARKS. — As we have never raised the peanut, 

 we must rely on the books and papers for our an- 

 swers to the above inquiries. 



The fjrst fact to be stated is that the plant grows 

 naturally only in considerably warmer climates 

 than that of New England. So do tobacco, to- 

 matoes, and sweet potatoes, — all of which are 

 more or less cultivated here. We presume it is 

 possible to raise peanuts here ; but whether it can 

 be done profitably we are unable to say. Our city 

 dealers buy the nuts uncooked, and employ bakers 

 to roast them. Of them we suppose there would 

 be no trouble in procuring the seed, which in 

 our climate must be started in hot beds or other- 

 wise, as tobacco, sweet potatoes and tomatoes are. 

 We understand that specimens of the plant have 

 been found growing near Waldcu Pond in Con- 

 cord, Mass., a location much frequented by picnic 

 and other parties, by whom the seed was dropped 

 on the ground. 



We copy, by permission, from the Country Gen- 

 tleman, a cut of the plant which illustrates its pecu- 

 liarities of growth. From an article m the same 

 paper, and from one in the last Pi-eport of the Ag- 

 ricultural Department, we condense the following 

 description of the plant and of its cultivation. 



The peanut — Arachis hypogaa — is a leguminous 

 annual plant. It has a hairy stem ; the leaves are 



alternate and paired, of a deep green ; the flowers 

 of a deep yellow, axillary and solitary. As soon 

 as these flowers have shed their corollas, or have 

 faded, the pedicles, or stalks, on which they are 

 borne, lengthen and turn downwards to (he earth, 

 as seen in the cut, and bury themselves in it until 

 a firm bed is reached, giving the plant the singu- 

 lar appearance of being fastened to the ground by 

 as many strings as there are seed pods ripening 

 under ground. 



Any soil that can be put and kept in a friable 

 condition, with a sufQcient quantify of lime and 

 moderate fertility, will produce the peanut, if the 

 season is long enough to mature them. It will not 

 fruit except on a calcareous soil ; but without lime 

 vines grow, but little fruit is produced. As the 

 color of the pods partake of the color of the soil, 

 and as the brightest pods always bring the most 

 money, gray land is preferred, and red or choco- 

 late colored avoided. The following directions 

 are applicable to the south, where it is not neces- 

 sary to start the plants in a hot bed, as it is here. 

 The land should be well ploughed and pulverized 

 in winter. It should be harrowed early in spring, 

 checked oflF both ways (just previous to planting,) 

 the row's two and a-half feet apart. It is very im- 

 portant that the rows should be at regular dis- 

 tances, otherwise the after culture will be very im- 

 perfect. Plant at least two kernels to the hill, at 

 the intersection of the rows. Make a hole with a 

 pointed stick, drop the kernels and cover about 

 two to three inches. The planting should be done 

 as soon as the frosts for the season are over. 



Clean culture is absolutely necessary. The 

 "sweep" or cultivator should be run about every 

 eight days, and kept up until about the middle of 

 July. After the tendons — or stems on which the 

 nuts forms — begin to shoot down, if the grass has 

 not been removed before, it must be removed with 

 the hand and hoe. 



In October and November, or just before a frost, 

 they are harvested. Furrows are run on each 

 side of the plants, which are then lilted with a 

 fork or pronged hoe, and after willing two or three 

 days are carefully stacked around stakes, with the 

 nuts innermost, much as beans are with us, capped 

 with straw or other material, as it is very impor- 

 tant to keep the hulls from becoming discolored. 

 When dry the nuts are picked off from the vines 

 by hand; about five bushels being a day's work, 

 from 16.J to 18 cents per bushel bi.ing a common 

 price for this work. There are two kinds of vines 

 the "running" and the "hill." 



It is estimated that each successive peanut crop 

 in Virginia since the war has been three-fold 

 greater than that of the year preceding, owing to 

 the demand consequent on the knowledge of the 

 fruit acquired by Northern soldiers in their South- 

 ern campaigns. And very likely the above in- 

 quiries owe their origin to the same cause. It is 

 a very profitable crop at the South. The average 

 crop is estimated at 50 bushels per acre, and the 



