104 



be extracted from the kernels, there should be obtained 8.65 pounds of oil 

 from each bushel of twenty-three pounds. This would give in liquid 

 measure 1.15 gallons, which at the price of $1 per gallon, would make 

 $1.15 for the oil extracted from one bushel of peanuts. Manufacturers use 

 this oil as a substitute for olive oil in fulling cloth. A large amount is 

 used in the manufacture of soap. It is not very desirable as a lighting 

 fluid, as it does not give as clear light as whale oil or petroleum. For the 

 fattening of hogs peanuts are exceedingly valuable, and have proved very 

 satisfactory on account of their large content of fatty matter. Hogs are 

 very fond of them. 



THE VINE AS A FORAGE CROP The haulm or vine, when 

 carefully harvested, before it has been injured by frost, is an excellent 

 food for cattle and sheep. Horses are exceedingly fond of it, but the 

 amount of dirt which necessarily adheres to it is apt to produce a disa- 

 greeable cough. The red peanut makes better hay than the white, because 

 it grows erect, and is, therefore, freer from dirt. Usually about one ton 

 is saved per acre, though upon strong land, where the vines grow luxu- 

 riantly, two or more tons have been saved. Many practical farmers prefer 

 this hay to clover hay. Like clover hay it must be handled carefully, or 

 the leaves will fall off, leaving nothing but the stems, that are practically 

 worthless. It produces a copious flow of rich, creamy milk when fed 

 to milch cows. Ewes in lambing time can have no better food given them 

 than well-cured peanut hay, because it increases the flow of milk and 

 enriches its quality. 



JAPAN CLOVER BUSH CLOVER KING GRASS (Lespedeza 



slriata} (Grazing and Hay.) 



There were numerous species of Lespedeza found in the South as far 

 back as the time of the Spanish occupation of Louisiana. They were then 

 observed and mentioned in Spanish records and regarded, at the time, as 

 being good forage plants. The seeds of the Lespedeza striata were intro- 

 duced into South Carolina about 1849 from Japan or China or probably 

 from both, doubtless coming over in tea chests. Its existence in Japan 

 was mentioned as early as 1784, by a German chemist, who saw it growing 

 in that country. A few years after its first appearance in South Carolina 

 it had spread as far as Macon, Ga. It appeared in Tennessee about 1870 

 and spread rapidly through many counties in the State, covering old 

 fields, rooting out broom sedge and other grasses, and showing such a 

 vigor of growth and tenacity of life as to arrest the attention of every 

 observant farmer. It will grow with great luxuriance on the poorest 

 soils, and will resist the severest droughts. Soils that are totally unfit 

 for the growth of any other plant will produce Japan clover high enough 

 to make good pasturage. On more fertile lands it will grow to the height 

 of two feet or more. It is an annual and should be sown in the State of 

 Tennessee during the month of March, but it is rarely necessary to sow 

 it at all as, when it once becomes established in any spot, it soon spreads 

 throughout the locality. It is an excellent plant for restoring fertility to 

 old fields and many of these in the state have been reclaimed through its 

 instrumentality. In many of the Southern States it is regarded as the 



