PEANUT 479 



Peanut butter, made from the ground peas or nuts, 

 mth or ^-^-ithout the addition of oil, is a palatable and 

 nutritious article of human food and is rapidly gromng 

 in popularity. 



459. The peanut and its by-products as food for live- 

 stock. — Outside of those regions in which the peanut 

 is gro\A'n as a sale crop, its principal use is as a food for 

 hogs, the hogs doing the harvesting. To make the season 

 in which peanuts are available as long as possible, there 

 should be a succession of plantings of Spanish peanuts at 

 intervals of a few weeks ; this succession of Spanish pea- 

 nuts should be planted in addition to the necessary acreage 

 in the running varieties, the latter being grown largely 

 \\'ith a view to use in December. Hogs make satisfactory 

 growth on peanuts alone, but the addition of a small 

 amount of corn makes the gain more rapid and improves 

 the quality of the meat and lard produced. 



Hogs fed on peanuts make very soft pork and lard that melts 

 at a low temperature. Hence, it is adWsable to remove pea- 

 nuts from ttie ration at least a month before the animals are 

 killed. 



In growing peanuts as an article of sale, the nuts left in the 

 field and the immature or unmarketable pods may be used in 

 fattening hogs. 



The Spanish and other varieties of peanuts having an erect 

 habit of growth produce from 1 to 2 tons of excellent hay per 

 acre. This must be mowed before many of the leaves fall or 

 become spotted. The field may then be grazed by cattle and 

 finally hogs turned in to consume the nuts. 



Peanut meal is quite .similar in composition to cotton-seed 

 meal, and suitable for the same uses. 



In some regions the entire plants — vines with attached nuts 

 — are fed to horses. 



