186 



THE PEANUT— THE UNPREDICTABLE LEGUME 



customary. Specific spacing recommendations are not made, bi;t it is 

 suggested that rows be spaced at least 32 to 38 inches apart for runners 

 with plants spaced several inches wider than the customary spacing in 

 the row. 



A very large percentage of the spacing experiments with peanuts 

 have been conducted with the Spanish variety. They show that this 

 variety yields most in rows 18 to 24 inches apart with plants 4 to 6 inches 

 apart in the row. Tests in which the larger bunch types or the runner 

 types were used show that they should be planted in 30-inch rows with 

 plants 6 to 8 inches in the row. 



Seed per Acre 



Poor stands due to planting an insufficient quantity of seed are one 

 of the causes of low yields of peanuts. It is not possible to recommend 

 accurately the quantity of peanuts needed per acre because of the extreme 

 variations found in the size of seed even within a variety. Parliam (14) 

 made counts and calculated the approximate seeding rate shown in table 

 19. 



Killinger et al. (7) suggest that 30 to 35 j^ounds of shelled or 50 

 pounds of runner seed in the hull are sufficient for planting an acre in 

 30- to 36-inch rows where peanuts are to be 6 to 8 inches apart in the 

 drill. They suggest 50 pounds of shelled Spanish peanuts for spacings of 

 3 to 5 inches apart in 24-inch rows. 



Sturkie (17) recommends 50 to 75 pounds of shelled seed per acre for 



Table 19. — Approximate Quantities of Peanuts Needed to Plant One Acre at 



Different Spacings 



