16 BULLETIN" 1401, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
price paid for Virginias. Among Virginias, the price is usually 
determined by the variety. Bunch peanuts bring slightly more 
than Kunners, and Jumbos command a premium over the smaller 
varieties. The term " Jumbos" is sometimes applied to any lot, 
whether of the Jumbo variety or not, that will pick out over a certain 
percentage of cleaned jumbos and fancys. 
According to some authorities, if samples taken from the farmer's 
load show 55 to 60 per cent fancys and jumbos, the lot is called No. 1 
or jumbo grade. To be classed as No. 2 grade it must pick out 40 
to 55 per cent fancys and jumbos; and No. 3 grade is assigned to any 
lot containing less than 40 per cent fancys and jumbos. Lots picking 
less than 40 per cent fancys and jumbos are usually sold as sheUing 
stock. In years when the crop is running poor in quality some 
buyers designate any lot running over 50 per cent jumbos and fancys 
as No. 1, with the other grades correspondingl} 7 " lower. 
Farmers' stock peanuts are often bought on appearance only, 
without actually sampling the lot. The buyer merely estimates the 
percentage of jumbos and fancys the lot contains, and makes his 
offer accordingly. 
The percentages of the different grades in the crop vary greatly 
from season to season. In one recent year, for example, which 
was noted for its low percentage of large sizes, farmers ' stock ranged 
approximately 10 to 15 per cent jumbos, 50 to 55 per cent No. 2, 
and the remainder was shelling stock. The following season shelling 
stock composed practically half of the out-turn and the percentage 
of jumbos was noticeably greater than during the preceding year. 
No. 2 stock was much less than during the year before. 
As hauled from the farms many lots of peanuts contain entirely 
too great a proportion of dirt, stones, trash, and other foreign mate- 
rial, which lowers the grade. Growers contend that no premium is 
received for better graded, carefully picked peanuts, and that thus 
they have no incentive to grade properly. 
Buyers for mills and brokers, who work on a commission basis, 
receiving the same fee for each bag or ton of farmers' stock pur- 
chased, at times encourage this feeling on the part of the grower, as 
the chief interest of these buyers lies in purchasing a specified quan- 
tity and in securing their commission. On the other hand, buyers 
profess to be helpless in the face of competition. They claim that 
if they refused to purchase nuts not properly cleaned, such stock 
would be accepted by competitors, and their own business would 
suffer. 
Probably the average 4-bushel bag of farmers' stock Virginias 
contains 4 to 10 per cent of foreign material, mostly around 5 per cent, 
although in some seasons many bags contain a much higher per- 
centage of trash and dirt. Cleaners say that 25 to 40 per cent, and 
even higher, of trash and dirt was found in many bags of farmers ' 
Virginias coming from certain districts of the Virginia-North Carolina 
section during the 1922-23 season. 
The presence of this worthless matter adds to the already high 
charges for hauling and freight. The grower loses heavily in his 
picking charges when the picking machine is so carelessly adjusted 
or operated that excessive quantities of trash are allowed to drop 
into the bag with the peanuts. As the picker charges a certain amount 
for each bushel turned out by the machine, he is often paid the 
regular picking fee for many bushels of foreign material during the 
