PEACH PESTS— PEANUTS 



1573 



paratively free from the pest In such 

 cases it is not necessary to treat all of 

 the trees with asphaltum, but it is neces- 

 sary to examine them carefully, for in no 

 other way can the true conditions he 

 known. 



A convenient way to handle the asphal- 

 tum is to mount an iron kettle on the 

 running-gear of an orchard truck and sus 

 pend beneath it a sheetiron apron as a 

 firebox. Keep hard asphaltum in the 

 kettle all the time, so that the melted 

 asphaltum will not get too hot to carry 

 in small containers, and apply directly to 

 the trees. 



Peanuts 



AracMs hypogea 



It is not definitely known when and 

 where the peanut was first cultivated. 

 Several allied species of plants are na- 

 tives of Brazil, and there is every indica- 

 tion that the common peanut originally 

 came from tropical America. Peanuts 

 were introduced into the United States 

 during the earlier days of colonization, 

 but did not become of commercial impor- 

 tance until about 1870. From that time 

 until 1897, the growth of the peanut in- 

 dustry was gradual, but a great increase 

 in the production and use of peanuts has 

 taken place during the last eight or ten 

 years. 



Botanically the peanut belongs to the 

 same group of plants as do the beans and 

 peas, but it possesses the character of ma- 

 turing its fruit or nut beneath the surface 

 of the soil, rather than above ground as 

 do most other leguminous plants. 



The technical name of the peanut is 

 AracMs hypogea, the name indicating the 

 characteristic habit of the plant to ma- 

 ture its fruits underground. The pea- 

 nut is known under the local names of 

 "goober," "goober pea," "pindar," "ground 

 pea," and "groundnut." The names "goo- 

 ber" and "goober pea" are more propei-ly 

 applied to an allied species, having no 

 true stem and only one pea in each pod, 

 which has been introduced and is fre- 

 quently found growing wild in the Gulf 

 Coast states. Properly speaking, the pea- 

 nut is a pea rather than a nut, the term 

 "nut" having been added on account of 



its flavor, which is similar to that of 

 many of the true nuts. 



The small yellow flowers of the pea- 

 nut are borne in the little pocket where 

 the leaves are attached to the stems, and 

 as soon as pollination has taken place 

 the visible portion of the flower fades and 

 falls, after which the short, thick stem 

 that supports the lower portion of the 

 flower elongates and the sharp-pointed 

 ovary is thrust downward into the soil, 

 where the pod develops. Should the 

 ovary fail to reach or penetrate the soil 

 no pod will be formed. 



The value of the commercial peanut 

 crop of the United States for the year 

 1909 was $18,271,929. During recent 

 years the area of production of peanuts 

 has greatly increased, especially through- 

 out the warmer parts of the country. The 

 value of the peanut, both as a money crop 

 and for feeding on the farm, renders it 

 especially desirable as a part of the rota- 

 tion wherever conditions suitable to its 

 development exist. 



Most persons think of the peanut as it 

 appears for sale at the news and fruit 

 stands, but during recent years many new 

 lines of consumption have been found. 

 In addition to the great quantity of pea- 

 nuts sold in the shell each year, thousands 

 of bushels are shelled for use in the man- 

 ufacture of confections and food products. 



The peanut is well adapted for use as a 

 part of the cropping system in the South- 

 ern states, especially on the cotton and 

 tobacco lands. Soils that will not produce 

 more than one-fourth of a bale of cot- 

 ton to the acre can be made to yield a 

 fair crop of peanuts at a very low cost 

 for growing. Comparatively few persons 

 realize the value of peanuts when used as 

 a farm crop, especially when the product 

 is fed to live stock on the farm and event- 

 ually returned to the soil in the form 

 of manure. 



Soil and Climatic Requirements of the 

 Peanut 



The soil best suited to the peanut is one 

 of a sandy, loamy nature, preferably light 

 or grayish in color rather than dark. 

 Soils that are dark and those carrying 

 a considerable percentage of iron or other 



