1 June, 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 423 
ground. It is thus a nitrogen-producing plant. It does not exhaust the soil 
very much of mineral matters, the oil being mostly extracted by the plant direct 
from the atmosphere. The stem is somewhat hairy, whilst the leaves are 
winged and alternate. The flowers of the usual shape in Leguminosa are yellow. 
The beans or nuts are usually found in pairs in a sort of pod hanging at the end 
of a thread a few inches long. But there is a strange peculiarity in that plant. 
Ii spreads spider-like on the ground, and buries its pods in the ground ata depth 
varying between 1 and 4 inches. It is there in the ground where they ripen. 
That habit is an indication of how to prepare the land. The best way is to 
prepare it in the same manner as for onions. Give first a deep ploughing. 
Then let the land fallow for a few months, after which work the surface to a 
fine tilth to a depth of 2 or 8 inches by using alternately the roller and spading 
and tooth harrows. Such a way of working the soil prevents the beans from 
being buried too deep, in which case they are mostly lost at harvesting time. 
Sow in rows 3 feet apart, leaving 1 foot between each seed in the row. It is a 
good plan to soak the seed for a couple of days before sowing, not forgetting to 
change the water from time to time. Whilst the plant is growing, keep the 
soil well stirred and pulverised by means of the Planet Junior and other light 
cultivators. Never allow the surface to cake. In a couple of months the 
plants will have covered the whole field, after which they can take care of 
themselves. If the soil is of a gentle, sandy, loamy nature, and has been kept 
well pulverised, the little pods will penetrate easily into it, and the crop will be 
something enormous. In the autumn, when the soil has been softened by some 
light rain, the plant is easily lifted, roots, beans, and all, the latter coming out 
clean from the ground and hanging on to the plant. They are then left to dry 
for a couple of days on the field, after which they are stored in a barn until 
they can be picked at leisure. 
When one has not first seen it, it is difficult to realise what a tremendous 
crop can be got from 1 acre. It is not rare to find that from 300 to 500 seeds 
have been produced from 1 seed. When first soaked in salt water; and then 
boiled or roasted, those seeds form one of the most nutritious and wholesome 
of foods, so much go, in fact, that of late doctors have begun to feed their 
consumptive patients on it, as they have found that no other food is comparable 
to it for producing fat and increasing weight. 
Tt is especially good for their emaciated women and for growing children. 
In the bush, and especially in the far West, where a yegetable diet is often 
so difficult to procure, the earthnut would form an invaluable adjunct to the 
usual meat diet. As an oil-producer, the earthnut is hardly surpassed by any 
other plant. The oil made from it is clear, inodorous, palatable, and not quite 
us fat as olive oil. Tt hardly ever gets rancid. It is largely used as an 
esculent and condiment. | It is also in great demand in certain industries. 
Amongst others a high-class soap. is made from it. 
As far as I can see, the earthnut appears to me to be the very thing we 
want to grow now in Queensland to render to the skimmed milk the fat it wants 
to form a healthy food for our calves. Pigs thrive on it remarkably well too, 
and are only too glad to be entrusted with doing the harvesting themselves. 
The Arachis hypogea originates probably from Brazil and Central America, 
whence it has spread all over Southern Europe and to the warmer parts ot Asia 
and Africa. It is extensively grown in the United States of America, also in 
Spain and Italy. Itis not only grown largely in the south of France, but, in 
addition, that country imports over 200,000,000 Ib. of the nut annually. Here 
in Australia it is likely to do well nearly all over the continent. It stands 
drought well, is not much afraid of wet, but it is sensitive to cold. It should 
therefore be planted in the spring, after the last frost is over—say from 
September to November, inclusive, according to latitude and altitude of places. 
