154 THE PEANUT— THE UNPREDICTABLE LEGUME 



Spanish varieties might be better suited to soils low in calcium than tne 

 Virginia Bunch unless proper steps were taken to supply adequate 

 calcium. 



These workers at the North Carolina Station also point out that from 

 one experimental location to another the effects of the fertilizer treat- 

 ment on a particular variety were more consistent than the relative yields 

 of the four varieties receiving the treatment. It was suggested that even 

 when the calcium and potassium requirements were met some other 

 factor apparently influenced the yield of one variety more than another. 

 In view of the fact that the Spanish variety performed relatively better 

 on soils with high organic-matter levels, it was suggested that there 

 might have been a differential response to nitrogen. 



Middleton and Farrior (75) reported that the Virginia Bunch 

 variety performed better on some North Carolina soils than did the 

 Jumbo Runner, whereas the reverse was true on other soils. These 

 workers also observed that the large-seeded varieties appeared to respond 

 more to the use of gypsum than did the small-seeded types. 



The results of experiments conducted on a Norfolk loamy fine sand 

 in Georgia are generally in agreement with the findings of the North 

 Carolina workers. Investigators (6) at the Georgia Station found that a 

 Spanish variety showed little response to additions of lime or gypsum 

 while the yields of Carolina Runner, Virginia Bunch and Virginia Run- 

 ner were increased by both materials. Without calcium amendments, the 

 Spanish variety yielded more than did either of the Virginia varieties. 

 With additions of lime and gypsum the relative order was changed. 



Differences in response of varieties to applications of nitrogen are 

 shown in table 3. Results of experiments conducted by the staff of the 

 Alabama Experiment Station show that relatively large increases were 

 obtained from additions of nitrogen to a Spanish variety, whereas the 

 higher rates of nitrogen were of less value with a "runner" variety. Gore 

 (55) in Georgia has also found the North Carolina Runner peanut to be 

 less responsive to nitrogen amendments than a Spanish variety. 



At first glance some of the variety-fertility interaction data in the 

 literature appear to be quite anomalous. Some of the experimental data 

 would indicate that one type or variety is most responsive to a given nu- 

 trient at one location and least responsive at another. It is quite possible 

 that even though some of the older varieties used in experiments con- 

 ducted at different locations were the same in name, they may have been 

 distinctly unlike genetically. If such genetic differences did exist, it should 

 not be surprising if the behavior were not the same in view of the marked 



