Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-04-09
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HOW PEANUTS GROW.
they Start In the Air and Aftcrward bur
row Into the Ground.


They Start In the Air and Afterward bur.
row Into the Ground.
Most residents OF tho north have wholly
erroneous ideus about the way In which
peanuts grow. II questioned ON the sub.
lect, nine persons out of ten would proba-
bly, declare with confidence that this IA
vorite luxury OF circus going youth is
root development, much as potatoes arc.
That peanuts, when ripe, arc dug out OF
the earth is true, but they begin opera
lions In the air and mover have anything
to do with the roots Of their parent vine
From bulletin issued by the department
of agriculture is CLEANED the following in
formation on this interesting subject;
Tho blossom of the peanut is at tho
end of a long, pedicellike calyx tube, tho
ovary being at the base. Aftor the fall OF
tho flower, the peduncle, or spike, elon-
gates and bends downward, pushing sew.
oral inches into the ground, where tho
ovary at Its extremity begins to enlarge
and develops into pale, yellowish, wrin-
killed., slightly curved pod, often contracted
in tho middle, containing from ono to
three seeds Should the spike by acci-
dent not be enabled to thrust its point in
the ground within few hours after tho
fall OF the flower 1t withors and dies.
"Moro or less abundantly goattorod over
tho roots OF the peanut plant arc warts of
about tho size Of pinhead, or larger. These
tuborcles, as they are usually called, play
q very important part in the life history
of the plant Within them, while in n
fresh or growing state, may be seen, by
tho aid of a good microscope, myTiAds Of
very minute organisms. These bacteria
like bodies live partly on tho substance
supplied from tho roots, but at tho Same
time they take from the air and elaborate
for the use of tho plant considerable guam
titles Of nitrogen. Nitrogen Is the most
expensive element that must DO supplied
TO plants In fertilizers. Tho organisms
living in these porous tubcrclcs take it
abundantly from the air, Of which it com
prises about flve-sixths, and supply 1t to
the plant without any cost In this way q
total amount OF nitrogen is often acquired
by the plant far in excess of the amount
analyses show to DO present and available
in the soil.
Like many other extensively cultlvat-
ed plants, the peanut has not been found
in n truly wild state, and hence 1t is diff
cult to fix upon its habitat. So widely has
it been cultivated in eastern countries that
some b0tanists have attempted To trace its
spread from China and Japan, thence
through the East Indian islands to India,
md thence to Africa, where in the seven.
toenth century it WIS SO extensively Guilt
waited aud had become such an important
article Of native food that the slayedoalers
lundod their vessels with 1t, using 1t as
food for their cargocs of captires But the
weight Of authority seems to b0 in favor
of accepting II Us native of Brazil thus
adding the peanut to the four other plants
of commercial importance that America
has contributed to the agriculture OF the
worid-nam"ly, cotton, Indian corn, pc.
tato and tobacco, Though 1t may DO ma.
tive of the wcstern continent, 1t early be-
came a largely guilty, d plant In the
warmer portions Of the old world, occupy
ing distinct place in the agriculture Of
those Countries long before its merits were
recognized in the land of its origin"