The herald., 1897-08-15
But Small Boys Need Not
Fear; There Will Be
Enough to Go Around.
HOW GROWN AND HARVESTED.
Known as Ground Nuts, Coolers,
and by Various Other Names.
Useful in Many Ways.

According to all predictions the pea
nut crop of the United States is going
to be short this year. But this does not
mean that the supply will not be sufti-
cient to satisfy Uncle Sans small boys:
for peanuts are raised in many coun-
tries besides our own, and the cost OF
importation is not great enough to in
crease the price materially.
This particular product of the earth
is known in the United States by
greater variety of names, perhaps than
any other that is so universally popu-
lar. In various parts of the South it is
the ground nut" the ground pea,"
the "goober'' (sometmes spelled "gou-
ber') and the "pindar." Over in Eng
land it is often called the monkey nut"
and this leads to the inference that in
Africa and South Africa, where it grows
wild, it's edible quality first became
known to man because the monkey fed
on it. One of it's names all over Europe
Is manila NUT" and this comes. no
doubt, from the fact that it is eXten-
sively grown in the Philippine Islands
where the Spaniards are now trying to
put down an insurrection-of which
Manila is the capital. In France it is
the "pistache de terre," from its SINH
larity to the pistachio nut in taste and
the uses to which it may be put.
At this season of the year those who
grow peanuts are kept busy attending
to the cultivation of the crop. The seeds
are put into the ground in May, late
enough to avoid even the latest frosts.
Until a few years ago peanuts were
planted by hand, but now machine
is generally used which places them in
rows three feet apart distributes the
phosphate which is almost always used
as fertilizer, drops the "beans." as
the seeds are often called, in groups of
three, covers them with two inches of
soil, and rolls the earth firmly,-all in
one operation. The cultivation of the
peanut crop is very similar to the cul-
tivation of potatoes, both the "culti-
vator," hauled by horse or mule, and
the hoe being used. Late in July a top
dressing of land plaster is applied.
Country bred boys, both north and
south, will understand all this without
further explanation; and city lads, with
whom the peanut is probably as uni
versally popular as with the country
boys, can learn all about the "cutiva-
tor" during their summer vacations, for
1t Is an implement that is used by
farmers everywhere.
The vines of the peanut begin to bloom
when they are eight or ten inches long,
the blossoms being of bright yellow
color and very profuse. The flowers,
however, are sterile; that is, they are not
followed by seeds, as are the blossoms
of most plants, even the potato,-which
like the peanut, develops the edible
product beneath the surface of the soil.
Nature is extremely interesting in her
method of providing for the propagation
of the peanut AS the flower fades. a
sharp pointed stem grows out from the
base of the plant. turns downward. and
buries itself in the ground. On the end
of this stem are formed the pods, or
nuts some little distance under
ground, and the plant needs no human
attention whatever from the time of
this pod formation till it is ready for
harvesting.
The harvesting takes place late in
October or early in November. Care
is always exercised to get this work out
of the way before frost comes, though if
possible it is put off until just before
the first visit Of the icy breathed visitor
from the North Formerly peanuts were
taken out of the ground by hand, some
what after the manner in which pota-
toes are harvested; but progressive pea