20 
The proportion of large nuts in the crop varies greatly from one 
year to another. A study of the f . o. b. prices prevailing at the princi- 
pal snipping points in Virginia and North Carolina shows that during 
the 1920-21 season a very wide price range prevailed between the 
extra large and the No. 1 Virginia shelled grades. During most of 
this period buyers were obliged to pay for the larger size nuts from 
two to three times the figure at which No. 1 stock could be bought. 
This wide spread in prices made it profitable for oriental shippers to 
sell large-size peanuts in American markets, notwithstanding the 
tariff of 3 cents per pound effective during the latter part of the sea- 
son. The premium for large nuts in the shell was less marked, yet 
jumbos were generally listed at 150 to 175 per cent of the price for 
the fancy size. 
PRICES F.O.B. VIRGINIA-NORTH CAROLINA SHIPPING POINTS 
OF CLEANED JUMBO AND FANCY VIRGINIA-TYPE PEANUTS 
NOV., 1 920- OCT., 1924 
CENTS 
PER 
POUND 
13 
12 
10 
9 
8 
7 
6 
5 
4 
3 
2 
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19 
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20 
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22 
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24 
Fig. 6.— A wide range between the prices of jumbos and fancys indicates a scarcity of the large* 
size nuts 
Many growers planted selected seed 10 the following spring. Owing 
partly to this and partly to weather conditions during the summer of 
1921, the crop that year contained a much higher proportion of large 
pods than did that of 1920. As a result, the difference in price be- 
tween jumbos and fancys, and between extra large and No. 1 shelled 
Virginias became very narrow, as shown in Figures 6 and 7. During 
the 1922-23 season the range in price between the grades again 
spread, as a result of a larger proportion of medium-size nuts in the 
1922 crop. In the following season an increase in the proportion of 
large peanuts brought the selling price for the first and second size 
nuts, both shelled and unshelled, closer together again. 
FARMERS' COOPERATIVE ORGANIZATIONS 
Several attempts have been made to organize the peanut growers 
into cooperative groups for disposing of their crops. Few of these 
organizations have been successful. 
io The production and selection of seed is discussed in Farmers' Bulletin 1127, Peanut Growing for Profit, 
by W. R. Beattie. 
