Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-09-27
TAKING uPPEANuTs.

40 inc Eultor OF the Union and American:
BUFFALO, HUMPHREYS COUNTY, TENN,
aug. Q, 1S72.-Since writing the little
paper relative to the probable yield of the
present growing peanut crop, and the cost
per bushel TO raise and prepare for market,
(Which you were so good as to publish) we
have been requested to write more about
peanRts for your collllnns, as what we
wrote was considered more exactly correct
than anything heretofore published on the
same subject. We are willing to treat the
business Of peanut growing in full if you
VIII publish what We know about it, but at
the present the heading of this paper is of
The greatest importance, hence We begin
with the taking up of peanuts. Although
II Is customary to work peanuts as long as
possible, so that they may be in good condi-
ton at taking up time, they get very q &ssy
In many places, and when this is the case
many peanuts are lost. It has been (and is
YETI customary in this Safe TO plow up
white peanuts with bull-tongue pl1w;
and it is well known that plow of this
class that has long and slim foot piece,
with the handles attached to the beam at
the bottom, is best, because 1t throws less
dirt on the peanut vines, and clogs less in
RlNooA AOul BinOOos ODoCkN
these facts, we have been led to the conelu-
sion that if we had an iron foot piece and
beam, the difficulty OF covering up the vines
and clogging In grassy places would be
about fully overcome. Hence we recon-
mend the following: Take double-shoYel
plow that has iron beams and foots, sepa-
rate the beams, have another hitching
hook made and its bolts; make two pair of
1,nV,llao haTa ku-o nf lnyllac
rights, made little longer than those on the
double-shoVel; give them a bend
at the bottom to make them
stand out at the top ends; have bolts
made for the bottom ends if necessary; have
two bolts made TO iasten the lower ends of
the handles to the beams; then stock each
iron beam and foot after the fashion of
bull-tongue plow. Place on one foot a
small steel buI-tongue plow point, to run
under the peanut vines on each side Of
row; on the other foot place the steel shovel
plow point, for the purpose of bursting up
the peas and vines entire. This we believe
TO be the best invention for taking up pea
nuts; let all farmers who can, try it; the
expense Of turning double shovel into two
bull-tongue stocks is very little; the peanuts
you will save by this arrangement will soon
amount to enough to pay for many plows.
Yours, j. A. CUNNINGHAM.
STACKING PEANUTS.
Peanuts after being taken out of the
ground are ready for stacking so soon as
they take as much as one days summing. 1t
is customary to turn the nuts up to the sun,
but we think it better plan to turn the
nuts down, they are then not 50 liable to
be yellowed by the heat Of the sun and by
dews. The stack pole should be just as
high as a man can reach after being placed
in the ground; around the bottom should
be placed some pieces of rails to hold the
vines off the ground and allow air to pass
under the stack aud up the pole; this &c
complished, begin placing the vines around
the pole; best plan is to place one
bunch at time, turning the top downward
and the nnts up, drawing the center Of the
rim up TO the pole so as to make the slack
very slim; carry Rp near the top this way,
then close in and cap it of. A bind Of grass
or fodder placed on the top will do much
good, but the nuts keep well without il; but
the top punches are Injured by the nuts be-
coming dark colored. In Virginia the
farmers take Of these black nuts separ-
ately, and it should be done in Tennessee.
Peanuts should all be up and stacked about
the 10Th of October; after this there is dan
ger Of frost and freezes and sometimes ear
heT. YOdrS,
- j. A. CUNNINGHAM.