6 
BULLETIN 1478, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
inches apart in rows 32 inches apart. In some cases there was in- 
sufficient seed to fill the two rows. All lots of the same variety were 
placed side by side in order to avoid soil differences. The results 
are given in Tables 5 and 6. 
Table 6. — Germination and yield in 1922 of seven varieties of peanuts from seed 
shelled on the same dates 
Variety 
Percentage of germination from 
seed shelled— 
Yield 
(pounds per acre) from 
seed shelled- 
Feb. 
i « 
Mar. 6 Apr. 3 
May 
15-16 
Feb. 
6-7 
Mar. 6 
Apr. 3 
May 
15-16 
Jumbo 
Virginia Bunch .- 
61.45 
! 76.77 
' 73. 94 
71.08 69.18 
27.56 j 75.16 
37.03 73.17 
43.56 46.04 
42.37 i 42.64 
73. 50 72. 63 
49.65 1 58.16 
64.04 
76.98 
81.16 
76.38 
84.08 
87.59 
90.03 
1,440 
1,575 
1,755 
1,530 
1,080 
675 
1,260 
1,125 
1,170 
1,935 
1,395 
585 
900 
922 
2,520 j 
2,115 
1,935 ! 
1,147 1 
765 
765 
855 i 
1,485 
1,755 
1,260 
African 
Valencia 
Spanish 
Improved Spanish 
74.76 
! 83.08 
88.40 
! 89.65 
1.800 
990 
562 
742 
Average 
I 78.29 
49.25 i 62.42 
80.03 
1,331 
1.147 
1,443 
1,228 
These data show that under the conditions of the experiment there 
is little difference between the germination and yield of peanut seed 
shelled as early as the 1st of February and that prepared immedi- 
ately before planting. No explanation is offered in regard to the 
rather low germination of seed in some lots shelled on March 6. 
EXPERIMENTS IN 1923 
During the growing season of 1922 stock of the same varieties 
was grown in increase plots at the Pee Dee station in order to con- 
tinue the work during the winter of 1922-23 and the growing season 
of 1923. It was thought advisable to use different stock of the same 
strains rather than to employ that produced in the testing of the 
material in the field, as the treatment to which the latter had been 
subjected might give rise, as the years proceeded, to a cumulative 
divergence. 
The material used for the 1923 work was grown under uniform 
conditions, and all varieties were identically treated. It was harvested 
during September, 1922, when at a proper stage of maturity; stacked 
according to standard practices, and picked during November of 
the same season. The peanuts were shipped to Washington and 
stored at the Arlington farm in the same room used the previous 
year. Early in December, 1922, a quantity of seed of all varieties 
was removed to the building at the department and stored in galva- 
nized-iron cans. 
On December 9 sufficient seed of each variety was shelled for the 
planting of the rows. In order to avoid difficulties in making 
computations, 360 peanuts of each lot were counted out, a number 
sufficient to fill two 90-foot rows, spacing the peanuts 6 inches apart. 
The shelled seed was stored in muslin bags in the. same cans as the 
unshelled. Subsequent lots were shelled on January 9, February 9, 
March 9, April 9, 1923, and a final lot was shelled on May 9, just 
previous to planting. All lots of seed were counted as before and 
stored in the same cans used for the remaining unshelled stocks. 
