PEANUTS 



1575 



to dispense with the regular plowing and 

 cut the land with a disk harrow or disk 

 plow. This implement both cuts and 

 turns the soil, leaving it in fine condition, 

 so that it is readily prepared for plant- 

 ing. Where plowing is necessary in or- 

 der to turn under sod, clover, or weeds, a 

 tool of the Acme harrow or Kimball cul- 

 tivator type is desirable for smoothing 

 and pulverizing the soil afterwards This 

 harrow is superior to the ordinary smooth- 

 ing harrow in that it turns, crushes and 

 levels the soil in one operation. If the 

 soil is very loose it may be necessary to 

 roll or drag thoroughly before planting. 



Under ordinary circumstances level 

 culture should be practiced, but where the 

 drainage is poor it may be advisable to 

 throw up slight ridges upon which to 

 plant peanuts; this is especially desir- 

 able during a season of excessive rainfall. 

 When ready for planting, the soil should 

 be in the same general condition as that 

 prepared for a crop of snap or bunch 

 beans. Thorough preparation of the soil 

 is profitable for all crops, and especially 

 for peanuts. If the soil can be harrowed 

 once a week for three or four weeks be- 

 fore planting, most of the weeds that 

 would otherwise injure the crop will be 

 destroyed. 



Fertilizers and Preparatory Crops 



Cropping System and Green Manures 



Peanuts should be grown in rotation 

 with other crops rather than as a spe- 

 cialty. The cropping system will depend 

 somewhat upon the area of other crops 

 grown, but the arrangement should be 

 such that the land will be planted to 

 peanuts one year in each three or four. 

 A good rotation is corn or cotton the first 

 year with cow peas planted between the 

 rows at the time of the last cultivation; 

 the next season plow under the remains 

 of the cow peas and plant the land to pea- 

 nuts; as soon as the peanuts are har- 

 vested sow the land with rye and use 

 as a winter pasture; plow under the rye 

 during the springtime and plant cow peas, 

 using the peas as a hog pasture during 

 the autumn ; then return to corn or cotton 

 the following year. 



Another plan would be to devote the 



land one year to sweet potatoes instead of 

 cow peas, or to a crop of early Irish pota- 

 toes followed by cow peas or crimson clov- 

 er. In this rotation stable manure should 

 be applied to the crop of corn or cotton, 

 and the commercial fertilizers with the 

 peanut and potato crops. Peanuts should 

 invariably follow some well-cultivated 

 crop which has been kept free from weeds. 



The Use of Stable Mannre 



Stable or barnyard manure should not 

 be used as a fertilizer the same year 

 that the land is planted to peanuts owing 

 to the great number of weed seeds that 

 are contained in the manure. The use of 

 manure also has a tendency to cause the 

 plants to produce abnormal tops and a 

 large percentage of poorly filled pods, 

 known to the trade as ''saps'* or *'pops." 

 The proper time for applying stable 

 manure is with the crop grown the prev- 

 ious season, thus giving it time to be- 

 come incorporated with the soil and re- 

 duced to the proper condition for the pea- 

 nut crop. 



Commercial Fertilizers 



The peanut responds to the use of com- 

 mercial fertilizers. However, a reason- 

 able amount of humus in the soil is es- 

 sential. If properly handled, the pea- 

 nut crop is not exhaustive of soil fer- 

 tility: in fact, the plant is a great nitro- 

 gen gatherer, as may be observed by the 

 large number of nodules upon the roots. 

 On the other hand, if the entire plant, in- 

 cluding the root, is removed and no part 

 returned to the soil, the peanut becomes 

 almost as exhaustive of soil fertility as 

 cotton or corn. By feeding the straw and 

 other refuse from the crop to cattle, hogs, 

 and work animals and applying the ma- 

 nure thus obtained to the land the fer- 

 tility may be retained or even increased. 



On soils that are adapted to the pro- 

 duction of peanuts it will not be neces- 

 sary to employ commercial fertilizers in 

 large quantities. Soils abundantly sup- 

 plied with nitrogenous matter will, espe- 

 cially during a rainy season, produce an 

 overgrowth of vine and poorly filled pods. 



A commercial fertilizer adapted to the 

 production of either Irish or sweet po- 

 tatoes is as a rule suited for the growing 



