10 THE PEANUT— THE UNPREt)iCTABLfi LEGuME 



Carolina, and Tennessee; the Southeastern area, including South Caro- 

 lina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi ; and the Southwestern 

 area, including Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico 

 (figure 2). The division into these three areas is based somewhat upon 

 the type of peanut grown. The Virginia-Carolina area produces the 

 Virginia-type peanut almost exclusively, while it is, at present, of minor 

 importance in the other two areas. In the Southeastern area, the small 

 Spanish type constitutes the major portion of the commercial crop. A 

 small seeded runner of the African type is grown under several varietal 

 names and enters the trade as "Southeastern Runner." The Virginia- 

 type peanut is grown in Bulloch County, Georgia, and to a less extent in 

 a few other localities. In the Southwestern area, the commercial crop is 

 almost exclu^vely of the Spanish type, though a small acreage of Tennes- 

 see Red is grown in New Mexico. See table 2 for varietal distribution. 



Data in table 3 show something of the development of peanut pro- 

 duction for the country as a whole and for the seven States that account 

 for about 90 percent of the total tonnage of the country. It is of interest 

 to note the slight increase of acreage in Virginia and North Carolina 

 during the World War II period in contrast with the enormous expan- 

 sion in certain States of the Southeastern and Southwestern areas. This is 

 probably due to the restricted adaptability of the Virginia type in con- 

 trast with the more widely adapted Spanish ; and also to concentration of 

 peanut acreage. Over the past 20 years the planted acreage has surpassed 

 that harvested by about a million acres: Georgia, 400,000 to 600,000 

 acres; Florida, 150,000 to 300,000; and Alabama, about the same as 

 Florida, with scattered acreage in most other States of the South, grown 

 specifically for hog grazing. 



According to the 1890 Census Report, some acreage of peanuts was 

 grown in 34 States the previous year, and some acreage was reported 

 from practically every county of the Cotton Belt. In the 1945 Census of 

 Agriculture, some acreage was reported in 32 States. The distribution of 

 this acreage, shown in figure 2, indicates all States in which 1,000 or 

 more acres were reported. In most of the 32 States plantings consisted of 

 small plots for home use only. 



One can only guess as to how the peanut industry would have de- 

 veloped under the system of free competition prevalent prior to 1933. At 

 that time the policy of government guarantee of a base price, in consid- 

 eration of acreage limitation by growers of major farm crops, caused a 

 slight decrease in acreage ; but this decrease had been overcome by 1939. 

 During the war years the abnormal demand for food by our own armed 



