May, 1910 



THE GARDE N M A G A Z I N E 



239 



used for stock feed. The grower can 

 judge just when is the best time for 

 digging his peas better than I can tell here. 

 They are usually ripe when the vines turn 

 a little yellowish and begin dropping their 

 leaves. The large Jumbo sort should not 

 be dug until just a few days before the 

 usual time for frost, as they will continue 

 to mature nuts, and the earlier matured ones 

 are not likely to germinate on account of the 

 thick, strong hulls which protect them. 

 The earliest matured nuts on the thin-hulled 

 kinds will often begin germination, especially 

 during a wet season. 



Bush peanuts grown in small quantities 

 for home use may be easily pulled up by 

 hand, if the soil is loose and there is no grass 

 to trouble, or they may be ploughed up 

 with a turning plough or a small potato 

 digger. Running varieties may also be dug 

 the same way, or they may be dug with fork 

 or spade. Where peanuts are grown in 

 large quantities for commercial purposes 

 they are harvested by a machine which digs, 

 shakes the soil off the vines, and piles them 

 at one operation; it does the work of seven 

 hands and does it better. 



Peanuts should be allowed to remain in 

 little piles until they are dry, for which they 

 require from two to four days, after drying 

 they may be stacked, but I have always 

 preferred storing them in a house, as both 

 vines and pods are kept in better condition, 

 unless they are to be picked in a few days. 



The usual price for picking peanuts by 

 hand is twenty to thirty-five cents per 

 bushel. This is a rather expensive and 

 slow method, the most economical is by the 

 machine pickers, which pick from two to 

 five hundred bushels per day. 



The best time for selecting seed is picking 

 time. Select seed from well matured vines 

 with the largest quantity of well filled pods. 

 Selection improves both quality and quantity. 

 This is one of the cheapest and easiest ways 

 of increasing the yield of peanuts. 



There are four distinct types of peanut 

 now grown, two in the bunch and two in the 

 running sorts. The bunch varieties are the 

 best for home use on account of their upright 

 growth, which permits their being grown 

 closer together, and their cultivation and 

 harvesting is easier. 



The smallest peanut in existence is the 

 Spanish, which represents one type, and the 

 only variety in this type. The Spanish 

 peanut is very early, prolific and of a compact 

 upright growth, with the pods close to the 

 main root. Pods fill out extra well with two 

 peas to a pod, and mature a crop from 95 

 to 120 days from planting. Color of peas, 

 a light brown. 



In the other type of bush peanut there 

 are four or five varieties, of which the 

 Virginia Bush is the most popular. The 

 growth is very upright, and dwarf; pods 

 produced close to the main roots, usually 

 two peas to a pod, sometimes three; color, 

 light brown. Plant very prolific, same 

 size pod as the Virginia (running) and of the 

 same good quality. Matures a crop in from 

 120 to 140 days. 



Tennessee, or Georgia Red, makes a 







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Peanuts are great nitrogen gatherers. Note the nod- 

 ules on the roots; they are bacteria colonies 



rather tall growth, with pods clustered, near 

 the main root; as prolific and as early as 

 the Spanish. Pods contain from three to 

 four seeds of a dull red color. 



The improved North Carolina is very 

 similar in every way to the Tennessee red, 

 and I am not sure it is a different variety, 

 although the pods are considerably larger. 



The improved Valencia, was introduced 

 about three years ago. It is very similar in 

 growth to the old Spanish, but the pods are 

 much larger and longer, and contain from 

 three to five peas each, packed very closely 

 in the pods, like the clubby potato lima beans. 

 Peas are a dull red color, vines very prolific; 

 growth tall. As early as the Spanish. 



Sure Crop originated in Georgia about 



two years ago, as the result of a cross be- 

 tween the Spanish and one of the large 

 varieties. It makes a very compact upright 

 growth and is very prolific. The pods are 

 close to the main root, and usually contain 

 two peas, sometimes three. Both pods and 

 peas are very much larger than the Spanish. 

 Color of peas, a dull red. A few days later 

 than the Spanish. 



Of the running peanuts we have only three 

 distinct varieties, divided into two types, 

 of which the Jumbo, or Dixie Giant is one, 

 and the only variety in its type. These 

 Jumbo peanuts are sold under several dif- 

 ferent names, such as New Orleans Special, 

 Giant of the Mississippi Valley, and Mam- 

 moth Bush. The vines make a mammoth 

 growth (sometimes a single plant will cover 

 a space of more than six feet in diameter) 

 and are very prolific. The pods and peas 

 are extra large; pods are more than twice 

 as large as in the Virginia; the peas are a 

 light brown color, of a fine sweet flavor, 

 much better than other sorts. They will 

 mature a crop in from 130 to 150 days from 

 planting. 



The second vine type, exemplified by 

 Virginia, makes a very rank growth, and 

 the crop matures earlier. The pods contain 

 two peas each, sometimes three, the peas 

 light brown, hulls very thin. 



The North Carolina, of the same type, 

 has much smaller pods, and peas of a dull 

 brown color. The vines are not quite as 

 large as the Virginia, but they are more 

 prolific. This variety is most popular in 

 some sections of the South for growing 

 between rows of corn for hogs' pasture, 

 because they contain a much greater amount 

 of oil than the other running sorts. They 

 mature a crop from one to two weeks earlier 

 than the Virginia. 



I am aware of only one disease, "rust," 

 that has ever damaged the peanuts. It will 

 happen from insufficient potash in the soil, 

 too damp a soil, and ploughing when too wet. 



Wood lice are the only insect that has 

 given trouble. 



The Jumbo type is famous for the great development of thr plant 



