346 THE PEANUT, OR PINDAR.—-LONG-ISLAND LANDS.—NO. 2. 
The outline of the Baldwin is round, flattened at 
the stem-end, and narrowing towards the eye. The 
ground-color is yellow, obscured by red and 
crimson, slightly marked by russet near the stem, 
which is rather deeply planted. 
Maiden’s Blush.— This apple is described by 
Landreth, as above medium-size, smooth skin, yel¬ 
low, with a lively carmine cheek, and of an outline 
generally flattened. The flesh is white, tender, and 
admirably adapted to drying. The stem, which is 
short, and the eye, are both seated in a deep cavity. 
The habit of the tree is vigorous, forming an open 
and rather spreading head. 
THE PEA-NUT, OR PINDAR. 
The pindar, pea-nut, or ground-pea (Arachis 
hypogcea ), is a leguminous plant, similar to the 
pea or bean, but differs from them in containing 
about ten per cent, of oil, resembling that of the 
almond, and consequently is more fattening and 
equally nutritious to man and animals. Therefore, 
from these properties, and the value of the green 
stems when plowed in as a fertilizer, we think the 
following remarks from Mr. M’Caughan, of Missis¬ 
sippi, are worthy of the attention of Southern plan¬ 
ters :— 
I planted, the 18l.li of February last, three acres 
in pindars, in rows five feet apart, the peas about 
12 inches apart, in a common small furrow made with 
a bull-tongue plough, on level ground, having first 
broken up and harrowed it well. The weather af¬ 
terwards, in March, was very cold, wet, and unfa¬ 
vorable, and killed many of the peas which had 
sprouted, so that I had a very poor stand; they, 
however, grew finely, and interlocked across the 
rows, and covered the ground pretty well. On the 
27th of October I began digging (for fear of frost) 
by loosening the ground a little round the bunch 
with an iron fork with three prongs, each above 13 
inches long, and then pitched the fork under the 
tap-root and pressed it up ; a hand follows and lifts 
up the bunch, most of the peas adhering to it, and 
shakes the sand (dirt we have none) all off, and 
lays it out straight to cure like hay; when suffi¬ 
ciently cured, tie up in bundles the proper size for 
a cutting-box, and stow away for winter food for 
horses, cows, &c., than which there can be nothing 
better or more nutritious. The pindars that are torn 
from the vine are partly left on the top of the 
ground, and can easily be picked up after a rain. I 
then turn the hogs in, and they gather the balance, 
and fatten as finely on them as on corn. Our poor¬ 
est land will yield 50 to 80 bushels of the peas, 
and over a ton of hay per acre, and altogether I re¬ 
gard it as one of the finest crops the Southern far¬ 
mer can raise. If we could afford to give an entire 
crop to the land, I am persuaded it would be quite 
as good as a crop of your best red clover to fertilize 
it. There has been a mistaken policy pursued, al¬ 
most universally, in cultivating the pindar, by cov¬ 
ering over the tops with earth when they begin to 
bloom; this is not only unnecessary, but positively 
injurious; although the top or vine grows straight 
up at first, yet when it is time to seed, the small 
fibres on the end of which the pea grows, arise, the 
vine inclines to the ground until it finds a proper 
location, and then extends its branches, two, three, 
or four feet in length in every direction, touching 
the earth. The only cultivation requisite is to keep 
the ground loose and clear of weeds and grass, and 
as level as possible, so that the fibres on which the 
pea grows can penetrate the ground easily. 1 in¬ 
tend, next year, to plant pindars in hills, or, rather, 
in checks, two feet apart each way, which will 
cause them to grow in upright bunches, yielding 
more hay, and will be easier dug, and, I think, will 
probably yield as many peas. 
LONG ISLAND LANDS.—No. 2. 
... Long Island, with the exception of the range of 
hills which extend through its entire length, and 
the drift on its northern slope, adjacent to the Sound, 
is strictly a marine formation reclaimed from the 
ocean. The “ back-bone,” or range of hills before 
referred to, is thought to be based upon a reef of 
rocks, which first formed a bed whereon the waves 
washed up the sand, and has so continued to accu¬ 
mulate until the present time. It may be lyiefly 
stated, that i» no instance is the soil of Long Island 
derived from the rocks in place, none of which have 
hitherto been discovered, except in a small tract at 
Hell-Gate, the entire mass of the island as far as 
known, being drift, marine sand, clay, peat, or vege¬ 
table mould. 
That portion of the island called the “ back¬ 
bone,” is largely made up of boulders, or blocks of 
stone, varying from the size of a pebble to large 
masses of a weight of several hundred tons, occur¬ 
ring in deposits of sand, clay, and gravel, which 
' correspond in character with the rocks in place, in 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, and along the river Hud¬ 
son, leading to the conclusion that they were de¬ 
rived from those places by means of ice-bergs, or 
a strong current flowing from the north. For in¬ 
stance, “ the boulders on the east end of Long Is¬ 
land are like the Granite, gneiss, mica-slate, green¬ 
stone, and Sienite of Rhode Island, and the easterly 
part of Connecticut; further westward, opposite 
New London, and the mouth of Connecticut River, 
are boulders like the New London and Connecticut 
River granites, gneiss, and hornblende rock; oppo¬ 
site New Haven, are found the red sand-stone, and 
conglomerates, fissile and micaceous red sand-stone, 
trap conglomerate, compact trap, amygdaloid, and 
verd antique; opposite Black Rock, are the gra¬ 
nites, gneiss, hornblende, quartz, and white lime¬ 
stone, like those in Fairfield county; and from 
Huntington to Brooklyn, the trap (compact, crystal¬ 
line, &c.). red sandstone, gneiss, granite, horn¬ 
blende-rock, serpentine, and crystalline limestone, 
are found to be identical in appearance with those 
of the country between New Jersey and Connecti¬ 
cut.”* 
It is further evident that the soil of the entire 
mass of the island is of a marine or diluvial forma¬ 
tion, from the fact that shells, peat, lignite, or fos¬ 
sil wood, have frequently been dug up in making 
wells and other excavations, the principal part of 
which have been taken from the strata below the 
drift, even to a depth of thirty or forty feet below 
the level of the tide. 
The composition of the soils of Long Island there¬ 
fore depends upon the direction from which they 
came, a large portion of that of the County of 
* Thompson’s Hist, of Long Island, p. 45. 
