The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1895-04-12

Th~v start In the AIR and Afterward Bus-
row Into the Ground.
Most residents Of the north have
wholly erroneous ideas about the way
In which peanuts grow. II questioned
on the subject nine persons out Of ten
would probably declare with conf
dence that this favorite luxury OF cir
cus-going youth is a root development,
much as potatoes are. That peanuts.
when ripe. are dug out Of the earth is
true. but they began operations in the
air and never 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 sub
jet.
The blossom Of the peanut is at the
.nd Of long. pedicel-like calyx tube.
the ovary being at the base. After the
fall OF the flower the peduncle. or
spike" elongates and bends down
ward. pushing several inches into the
ground. where the ovary At its ex-
tremity begins to enlarge and develops
into a pale, yellowish. wrinkled.
slightly-curved pod. often contracted
in the middle. containing from one to
three seeds Should the spike" by &C
cident not be enabled to thrust its
point in the ground within . few hours
after the fall Of the flower il withers
and dies.
More or less abundantly scattered
over the roots of the peanut plant are
warts of about the size of pin head.
or larger These tubercles. rs they
are usually called. play q very
important part in the life history of
the plant. Within them. while in
fresh or growing state. may be seen,
by the aid of a good microscope. myri-
ads Of very minute organisms These
bacteria like bodies live partly on the
substance supplied from the roots. but
at the same time they take from the
air and elaborate for the use Of the
plant considerable quantities of nitro
gen. Nitrogen is the most expensive
element that must be supplied to plants
in fertilizers The organisms living in
these porous tubercles take il album
dainty from the air, Of which it com
prises about five-sixths. and supply it
10 the plant without any cost In this
way total amount of nitrogen IS often
acquired by the plan. far in excess Of
the amount analyses show TO he pres
emit and available in the soil.
Like many other extensively culti-
waited plants. the peanut has not been
found i'm truly wild state and hence
il is difficult; to fix upon its habitat So
widely has il been cultivated in east
ern countries that some botanists
have attempted TO trace its spread
from China TO Japan. thence through
the East India islands TO India. and
thence 10 Africa. where. in the seven
teenth century. il was SO extensively
portant article of native food that the
slave dealers loaded their vessels with
il. using il as food for their cargoes Of
captives. But the weight of authority
seems to be in favor of accepting it as
a native of Brazil. thus adding the
peanut TO the four sother plants of
commercial Importance that America
has contributed to the agriculture Of
the world. namely. cotton. Indian
corn. potato. and tobacco. Though IL
may be a native of the western con-
tinent. il early became largely Guilt
waited plant in the warmer portions OF
the old world. occupying distinct
place in the agriculture of those couD-
tries long before its merits were recog-
nized in the land of its origin Chi.
ago Journal.