PEANUT 467 



t 



446. Liming soils. — A considerable amount of lime in 

 the soil increases the yield. However, the percentage 

 of hme in the soils of the eastern peanut region is low, 

 so that this element is usually supphed artificially. The 

 absence of lime is generally beheved to be one of the causes 

 leading to a large proportion of " pops," that is, shells 

 without nuts. Potash is said to reduce the number of 

 " pops." Probably one of the good effects of lime is its well 

 known effect of making available the potash in the soil. On 

 soils extremely deficient in hme, as are most Ught-colored, 

 sandy soils, an apphcation of hme is usually advantageous. 

 A minimum of 10 bushels or a maximum of 50 bushels 

 of slaked hme per acre may be used. The smaller appli- 

 cation repeated at frequent intervals is preferable to larger 

 apphcation once every four or five years. Where hme is 

 used special care must be taken to maintain an abundant 

 supply of humus in the soil. Lime is best appUed broad- 

 cast and harrowed in, but when very small amounts are 

 employed, it is sometimes placed in the drill, or even 

 drilled on top of the ridge after the seed have been 

 planted. 



447. Fertilizers. — Other fertiUzers for peanuts should 

 be placed in the drill, though some farmers in Vir- 

 ginia apply a few hundred pounds of land-plaster per acre 

 after the plants have made considerable growth. It seems 

 to be better practice, instead of using plaster, to increase 

 the amount of acid phosphate, since nearly half of the 

 weight of acid phosphate consists of land-plaster. In 

 either form, the plaster converts a part of the potash of 

 the soil into a more available form. 



The fertilizer most generaUy needed by peanuts is a 



