PEANUT (Arachis hypogrea). An annual plant of the order Leguminosx, also called groundnut. earthitut. ground-pea, goober, and pin dar in various localities. It grows from one to two feet high with thick, greenish, hairy stems and spreading branches. After the 'lower has fallen the peduncle bends downward and pushes into the ground, where the fruit or pod develop:. The pods are pale yellowish, wrinkled, slightly curved, often contracted in the middle. and con tain from one to three seeds. The peanut is thought to lie a natixe of Brazil. where a number of spe cies of the genus are indigenous. Soon after the discovery of South America it was introduced into the Old World and is now grown in all the warm reoions of the globe. Only since 1800 has it been an important crop in the United States. where it is mainly grown in the Southern and Southeastern States. particularly Virginia. North Carolina. Georgia. and Tennessee. The conditions best suited to the culture of the peanut are an early and warm spring. a hot and moist summer.
and a limy. sandy, friable loam. Lime in some form must he added to -oil, deficient in this ele ment. The soil is finely pulverized from four to five inches (I6?p and the seed planted about one inch deep in rows from 28 to 36 inches apart and from 12 to 16 inches in the row, when danger of late spring frosts has passed. About two bushels of nuts in the pod are required to plant an acre. After planting and during the growing period of the crop the soil is kept loose and open and free from weeds. The crop is bar vested before frost in the fall, the plants being loosened by of a special plow, then taken up and put into shocks. After drying from fif teen to twenty days the pods are picked. Fifty bushels of pods and from one to two tons of hay or straw per acre is considered a good yield. In special establishments known as recleaners or fac tories the pods are polished and sorted before being put upon the market.