1578 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURP: 



will plant an acre. One and one-half 

 pecks of shelled Spanish peanuts, or two 

 bushels in the pods, are required for an 

 acre. The greater the care exercised in 

 planting, the smaller will be the waste of 

 seed, and economy is quite an object 

 when planting specially selected or high- 

 priced seed. 



Depth to Coyer the Seed 



The depth to which the seed should be 

 covered will depend somewhwat upon the 

 character of the soil. On heavy soils 

 three-fourths of an inch to one and one- 

 quarter inches will be sufficient, while 

 on light soils one and one-half to two 

 inches may not be too deep. 



Tools and Methods of Planting 



Peanuts are generally planted in rows 

 that are cultivated in one direction only. 

 Some growers follow the practice of first 

 marking the land with an implement sim- 

 ilar to the ordinary corn marker. Others 

 open a furrow with a one-horse plow, 

 then after the fertilizer has been dis- 

 tributed in the furrow the plow is again 

 used and a slight ridge thrown up. There 

 is now on the market a tool of the type 

 shown in Fig. 2, which sows the fertilizer, 

 throws up a slight ridge, and at the same 

 time indicates the position of the next 

 row. If desired, this machine can be sup- 

 plied with a seeding device, which will 

 complete the planting at one operation. 



The greater portion of the peanut crop 

 is planted with the one-horse planters 

 of the type shown in Fig. 3. These ma- 

 chines are similar in many respects to a 

 cotton planter; in fact, a cotton planter 

 may be adapted to planting the whole 

 Spanish or the shelled Virginia peanuts 

 with very little trouble or expense. The 

 ordinary peanut planter costs in the 

 neighborhood of $15 in most localities. 



General Cultivation 

 Method of Cultivation 



Cultivation of the peanut crop should 

 begin as soon as the rows can be followed 

 and continue until the vines begin to oc- 

 cupy the ground. The work of cultivation 

 should be pursued very much the same as 

 for corn, beans, and all similar crops. 

 Frequent shallow cultivation that will 



keep the soil loose and prevent the loss 

 of moisture is essential. Shortly after 

 rains the surface soil should be stirred 

 and during dry weather a dust mulch 

 maintained. After the first cultivation it 

 will be desirable to work the soil toward 

 the rows to provide a bed of loose earth 

 in which the pods may form. 



After the peanuts begin to "peg," or 

 form pods, they should not be disturbed 

 or given further cultivation. The old 

 idea that the blossoms of the peanut must 



Pig. 3. Peanut Planter. 



be covered is erroneous, although grow- 

 ers frequently allow considerable soil to 

 be thrown over the vines during the final 

 cultivation. For the last cultivation it is 

 a common practice to employ a tool that 

 will both throw the soil toward the rows 

 and leave a furrow in the middle of the 

 alley to carry off the water during heavy 

 rains. 



Tools Adapted to Cultivating Peanuts 



Most implements that are adapted to 

 the cultivation of corn or cotton will be 

 found suitable for handling the peanut 

 crop. For the first two or three cultiva- 

 tions a spring-tooth riding cultivator is 

 desirable, while for the later workings the 

 same implement can be used by chang- 

 ing the spring teeth for regular cultivator 

 shovels. For one-horse cultivation the or- 

 dinary cotton sweep is frequently used, 

 but the five-tooth cultivator will do more 

 efficient work. This implement is pro- 

 vided with several styles of narrow and 

 broad shovels, sweeps and hillers, making 

 it adaptable to a great many changes and 

 suited to a wide range of conditions. 



Some growers follow the practice of 

 running a light roller over the plants 



