PEANUTS. 435 



therefore freer from dirt. About one ton is usually saved per 

 acre, though upon strong land, where the vines grow very 

 luxuriantly, two tons or more have been saved from a single 

 acre. Many practical farmers prefer it to clover hay. Like 

 clover hay it must be handled carefully, or the leaves fall 

 off, leaving nothing but the stems, which are nearly worth- 

 less. When fed to- milch cows it is said to produce a 

 copious flow of rich, creamy milk. Ewes in lambing time 

 can have no better feed given them than'well cured peanut 

 vines. Their flow of milk is increased and its quality en- 

 riched. 



The best of farmers, however, scatter the hay over the 

 land intended to be planted in peanuts, and it proves to be 

 an excellent fertilizer. The peanut, like all oily products 

 of the soil, is a very exhaustive crop; and if the hay is not 

 returned to* the soil the land will t not yield more than two 

 good crops- in succession. The best plan is to rotate the 

 peanut crop with the wheat crop, and use some of the super- 

 phosphates. They are good fertilizers for both crops. 



The estimated production of this crop in Tennessee, as 

 made by Gennett & Co., the largest dealers in the State, for 

 the five years ending 1877, is as follows : 



1873, •••• 600,000 bushels 



1874, 150.000 " 



1875, 200,000 " 



1876, 450,000 



1877, 200,000 " 



It is a singular fact that, notwithstanding the importance 

 and value of this crop, no report of it has ever been made 

 in the United States census. 



The best markets are Nashville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh 

 and New Orleans, which usually take the whole Tennessee 

 crop. About 105,000 bushels were handled in Nashville in 

 1877. The quality of the Tennessee peanuts is considered 

 not equal to those of Virginia, but better than those of 



