PEANUT 441 



are practiced. In many cases the plant's are merely 

 plowed from the ground with a one-horse turning plow 

 and afterwards separated from the soil by hand. Another, 

 and very common, method is to remove the mold-board 

 from a turning plow and run the plowshare under the row 

 on each side at a sufficient depth not to sever the pods from 

 the vines. The side from which the mold-board is removed 

 is kept next to the row. The plants are lifted by hand or 

 by means of forks, and the dirt is carefully shaken from 



Fig. 74. — Machine potato digger adapted for harvesting peanuts. 



them. They are then thrown in small piles to dry. The 

 potato digger may be very^satisfactorily used in harvesting 

 peanuts (Fig. 74). 



549. Stacking. — As soon as the plants have suffi- 

 ciently dried, — a process which requires about three or 

 four hours, — they are put in small stacks (Fig. 75) . Poles 

 about seven feet long are driven securely into the ground. 

 Around the base of each pole a few pieces of short poles are 

 placed to keep the peanuts off the ground. The peanuts 

 are stacked with the vines out and the nuts in next to the 

 pole. The stacks should be made rather slen^ler and taper- 



