Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-01-31
now TO RAISE PEANUTS.

1t is a surprise to man, residents OF
our state to tell them that, we cal
raise peanuts in paying quantities here
at home. Almost every farmer raises
a few bushels per year for their own
use. The culture is as simple as that
of corn or potatoes. Here any ground
that will produce corn will produce a
good crop of peanuts We have not
tried them enough to determine what
kind of ground will be the best for
them. 1t must be ground that will
not bake and get hard during the grow
ing season. Plow the ground the
same as for corn. Before planting,
harrow the ground thoroughly; the
oftener it is narrowed before planting
the easier it will be to have the crop
free from weeds. Mark off the ground
in rows three feet apart: break the
peanut shells so that there will be on
~ one kernel in Il piece, drop them
two feet apart in the row, cover a
couple of inches deep. AS soon as
they come up give the ground thor
ough working with the cultivator.
Cultivate and work until the vines
cover the ground, so that the cultivat-
or cannot be used. If weeds are start
ed between the hills they will have to
be cut out with the hoe. Let them
grow until the vines are killed in the
fall. To harvest the crop take ma
nure fork and run it under the hill
and lift out vine and nuts together. It
is best to dig in the dry clear days.
Let the nuts dry on the vines a few
days, then hull them off and spread
them in the same place so that they
will get thoroughly dry, and then
they can be kept in barrels or boxes.
Some farmers stack the vines and let
them stand until they have leisure
time to pick off the nuts. If one has
a good granary or barn they can be
thrown in loose, nuts and all, and re-
main rs long as wanted.
The plant sends down one tap root:
from that the vines grow in all direc-
tons, and every few inches along the
vine they send down an inch deep
straight root on which the nuts form.
The first and best nuts form near the
main roots; as the vines extend new
nuts form. This growth continues
during all the growing season. We
find nuts in all stages of growth from
the ripe nut to the shell that is just
formed. They grow just below the
surface of the ground.
They should be planted about the
same time as corn. We usually plant
as soon as we can after corn planting.
There are two kinds, the white and the
red. The white is the best, both to
raise and to eat. The red grows more
upright than the white. Anyone can
tell the difference in the seed, as the
seed of the red is bright red, of the
white lighter color
There is an idea that it is necessary
to cover the vines as they blossom;
this is useless work, as they bear as
we'll without covering as with it. Ma
ture will see that the roots are all de-
posted under ground If we had
market for them We could make more
raising them than we can off of any
other crop. There has been one hun
dred bushels per square rod raised
here. l have got from one quart to
three pints from a single vine. Ihave
been told that there has to be machin-
cry to dry and clean them for market,
where they are raised on a large scale.
If some one would erect suitable ma
chin cry ard so into the business of
them for market they could
soon get all they wanted to purchase.
Will some one that knows please give
the process of preparing them for mar
ket.
Here many families raise and use
five bushels in one winter. The aver
age boy will fill his pockets full before
he starts to school every day. and then
not have half enough. Every dollar
We can keep at home is worth two dol
lars sent away
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