8 
SEED-TIME AfiD HARVEST. 
you must not expect me to, as I did not 
live in those days. 
On St. George’s Day (April 23) the coun¬ 
try folks had to go up to the cities for the 
merry makings; and were well repaid for 
doing so, as there were magnificent 
pageants and processions got up “regard* 
less of expense.” 
On St. Mark’s Day, the corn was blessed 
and prayers offered for a bountiful harvest. 
Although the following may not exactly 
come under the heading of these articles; 
still, as it was a custom followed by the 
rural people, it may not be out of place to 
introduce it here. Every year, for three 
years, the rustics used to sit at the church 
porch on St. Mark’s Eve, from eleven 
o’clock at night until one o'clock the next 
morning to peer into futurity; for, on the 
third year, they are supposed to see the 
ghosts of all those who are to die the next 
year pass into the church. 
Many a deception has been played on 
these watchers; for people have disguised 
themselves so like the watchers, themselves, 
that the latter have actually died from 
fright; and then, of course, all the others 
have told, far and wide, “how true the 
omen proved to be;” while the deceivers 
have been so much ashamed of their mis¬ 
conduct, when they have seen the result, 
that they have wickedly kept silent. 
Peanut Culture. 
BY JOHN M. STAHL. 
The bulk of our peanut crop is produced 
in the Southern States, yet with good cul¬ 
tivation the peanut may be made a profit¬ 
able crop in many parts of the North. The 
proper way would be to begin on a small 
scale and enlarge as experience was gained 
and it was demonstrated that the soil was 
suit ble. The crop can be made by the 
children and will not only yield them a 
profit but provide a means to wed them to 
the farm. 
Good light soil, with a hard pan or clay 
subsoil, is best adapted to the peanut, though 
it need not be exactly of this character to 
make the crop profitable. Rut as the soil 
approaches to this nature the better the 
crop will do. The soil may easily be too 
fertile, as a large growth of vine is not 
desirable. Unless the land is what is term¬ 
ed poor, especially in the more fertile por¬ 
tions of the country, no fertilizers should 
be applied. The fact that this crop does 
well upon light, poor soils will commend 
it to many and rarely bean objection. If 
there is an intermixture of pebbles in the 
soil it is all the better as the pebbles will 
keep the soil light and friable and prevent 
its baking. Uplands are better than bottom 
lands; and the lighter the better, for the 
peanuts will partake in some measure of 
the color of the ground in which they are 
grown. 
There are two varieties—the red and the 
white. The former sells the more readily 
in the market and is the more easily culti¬ 
vated. It has an erect stem, permitting of 
the greater part of its cultivation being 
done with a plow. It also matures earlier 
than the white (in some localities a val¬ 
uable quality; and yields fewer imperfect 
kernels. The white peanut grows fiat upon 
the ground, spreading out and forming a 
rigid deflected stalk, from which the form¬ 
ing pods grow into the ground. 
The work should begin on the ground as 
soon as the danger from frost is past. Of 
course this date will vary with the latitude 
and season. The ground must be well 
pulverized. The white peanuts are gen¬ 
erally planted in hills and the red in drills; 
but we would make the manner of planting 
depend upon the nature of the cultivation 
you intend to give rather than the variety 
of the seed. If the cultivation is to be all 
or nearly all by horse-power, plant in hills, 
as this gives a chance for cross cultivation; 
but if you are disposed to use the hoe 
should the ground become weedy, plant in 
drills. As the drill system of planting econ¬ 
omizes land, the person planting on high 
priced land will be more disposed to adopt 
it than he who lives where land is cheap 
and labor scarce. If the hill plan is employ¬ 
ed, make the hills three feet apart each 
way. Where the peanuts are planted in 
drills, the drills are made three feet apart 
and two kernels placed every eighteen 
inches in the drill, or one kernel every ten 
or twelve inches. Two kernels are dropped 
in each hill when the hill method of plant- 
