MARKETING PEANUTS 7 
by a traveling or custom picker who operates his machine for a 
given charge per bushel or per sack of peanuts picked. During the 
past two or three years this charge has ranged from 30 to 40 cents per 
4-bushel sack of farmers' goods, based on the number of sacks picked. 
In the Southeast in 1924, when the picking was done for cash the 
usual charge was around $8 to $10 per ton. Often picking was done 
on the basis of payment in peanuts of one-tenth to one-eighth of 
the quantity picked, depending on the size of the crop and the acreage 
in the immediate vicinity. In Texas most threshers charged 12 to 
15 cents per 30-pound bushel for threshing large-lots in 1924. Some 
large lots were threshed for 10 cents per bushel, but higher charges 
were made for small quantities. 
Since the income of the commercial picker is dependent on the 
volume of peanuts picked, the frequent tendency is to feed peanuts 
into the machine as fast as it will take them, and the special attach- 
ments are often removed as a means of increasing the speed of the 
machine. The result is that much trash and dirt and portions of 
vines come through the picker with the pods, adding weight to the 
farmer's lot of peanuts, but materially lowering the grade. 
After picking, peanuts in Virginia and North Carolina are sacked, 
usually directly from the picking machine, in 4-bushel bags holding 
on an average about 88 pounds of Virginia type or 120 pounds of the 
Spanish stock. In Texas some bags of this size may be found, but 
often miscellaneous secondhand sacks of varying capacities are used. 
After the tops of the bags are sewed they may then be hauled to a 
storage building on the farm or at a town near by, to a local factory, 
a country merchant or other buyer, or to the railroad station for 
shipment. 
The unit of sale hi Texas, Virginia, and North Carolina for the 
Spanish variety is the 30-pound bushel, although according to Texas 
law a bushel of Spanish peanuts weighs 24 pounds. The large- 
podded nuts in Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, weighing 
about 22 pounds to the bushel, are sold by the pound. In the south- 
eastern area peanuts customarily move to market in bulk, and are 
sold on the basis of the 2,000-pound ton. To a lesser extent, bulk 
shipments of farmers' grade peanuts are made in the Southwest. 
HOW PRODUCTION IS FINANCED « 
Most producers find it necessary to borrow some money, or to use 
credit, in growing their peanuts. This financial assistance may be 
used to buy seed, fertilizer, or supplies. The method of financing 
production is important because it often determines the method of 
sale of the harvested product and when it shall appear on the market. 
VIRGINIA-NORTH CAROLINA SECTION 
In the Virginia- North Carolina peanut belt approximately 60 per 
cent of the crop is produced on small farms operated by the owners. 
A few farms are operated by cash renters; the remainder are farmed 
on a share-crop arrangement. Under the half -share arrangement, 
which is most common, the landlord furnishes land, stock, and half 
the fertilizer and seed. A one-third share arrangement is sometimes 
s Acknowledgment is made to Cx. E. Cadisch and O. D. Miller, who investigated crop financing in 1923 
and who supplied much of the material ior this portion of the bulletin. 
