Culture.
Seeds.—One of the most important points in connection with the cultivation of pea nuts is the proper selection of seed. Only seed from vigorous, productive plants should be planted. Those persons who give special attention to this point are liberally rewarded for their attention. The result of planting a miscellaneous collection of seed is an indif ferent stand and a corresponding yield.
While the general practice is to employ shelled nuts for planting, in some instances Spanish nuts, and the larger varieties as well, are planted in the hulls ; but a less uniform stand of plants is secured when this practice is followed. The more perfect stand of vines resulting from the use of shelled nuts is sufficient to warrant the expense and trouble of shelling. This work should be done very care fully, so as not to crack the kernels or to break the thin skin which covers them. The work of shelling is most satisfactorily done by hand, but in recent years a considerable quantity of the seed, of the Spanish variety particularly, is secured from the factories where it is shelled by machinery. Te facilitate the work of hand-shelling, a simple device called the "peanut popper" is used. This consists. of a piece of tough hickory or oak bent into the form of a miniature pair of tongs.
,Soil.—With the exception of low wet soils the peanut will thrive on any good agricultural land. In order to produce high-grade peanuts for market, however, only soil which is of a light color and carrying a high percentage of sand is suited for the work. Heavy land of a dark color, impregnated with iron, is likely to produce stained nuts which do not command so high a market price as do clear shelled nuts. For agricultural purposes, however, the color of the shell is of no importance and in some instances the largest yields of nuts have been obtained from soils of a rather heavy and some what retentive nature, soils carrying a considerable percentage of clay. In addition to the light gray soils already mentioned, chocolate soils, which are more or less abundant in certain parts of Virginia, are considered to he well adapted to the peanut. It is not advisable to use the same land year after breaking of the soil may be deferred until spring.
• If, however, there is considerable vegetable matter on the land, it is advisable to plow it in the fall and ; to rework the surface in the spring with a disk , harrow or some type of soil-stirring implement which does not reverse the soil as does the plow.
; A preparatory tilled crop is a decided advantage, as it helps to rid the land of grass and annoying weeds.
Fertilizers.—Land which is moderately clean is benefited by a light application of lime, ten to twelve bushels to the acre, and that which is some , what weedy or grassy should have a more liberal dressing, say fifteen to twenty-five bushels to the acre. After the land has been tilled and limed, it is I customary to lay it off in rows two and one-half r feet apart, using a turning plow to open a furrow . in which is scattered the fertilizer to be used on [ the crop, after which the cultivator or weeder is • run over the area to incorporate the fertilizer with the soil.
If stable manure is to be employed on the area to be devoted to peanut-culture it should be thor oughly rotted, spread on the field in the fall , previous to planting the crop and plowed under.
y It is not advisable to use fresh manure on the land immediately before planting. In addition to manur ing and liming the land in the spring, a dressing of plaster is given at the rate of 250 pounds to the acre about the time the plants come into bloom.
year, but the crop fits well into a rotation scheme. 3 It is a good preparatory crop for corn.
• Preparation of the lund.—The general prepara tion of the soil for the cultivation of peanuts is t the same as that for any other tilled crop. The land should be plowed moderately deep, and if 3 clean, as the result of a previous tilled crop, the Other fertilizers which are suggested for pea nuts are acid phosphate 50 pounds, cottonseed meal 300 pounds, kainit 210 pounds. Another for mula recommended is acid phosphate 100 pounds, dried blood 1S5 pounds, muriate of potash 65 pounds. Since the peanut is a leguminous plant, drawing its nitrogen largely from the soil air, the fertilizer used need not be highly nitrogenous, although in each of the formulas given there is much nitro gen ; the cottonseed meal in the first carries a considerable percentage, while dried blood in the last also contains nitrogen. A dressing of 250 to 500 pounds to the acre of either of these mixtures should be suffi cient. The North Carolina Depart ment of Agriculture is using a fer tilizer analyzing 7 to S per cent of available phosphoric acid, 4 per cent potash, and 1 to 2 per cent nitrogen.