The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-11-28
No. AZ
THE SPANISH PEANUT AND IT'S,
: CULTURE,
BYH B HnLYER BOWIE TEX

BY B HELLYER, BOWIE TEX
Address Delivered Before Texas Truck
ers' Convention
The peanut is a true pea, but bears.
it's pods bsloW the ground. It is strictly
an American plant, but like the Irish
potato, its culture spread so rapidly all.
over the worth that it's exact time and
place Of discovery is at this date en-
tirely lost. There are several varieties
OF the peanut, or rather ground pea"
There are several kinds Of the WELL
known large varieties sold so much
about the streets as ''parched goobers. ~
All these have running vines spreading
out in every direction as do the cucum-
Der, they should be planted in hills
four feet apart each way, the vines lie
close to the ground, at the base Of every
bloom rootlet is sent down into the
soil, where it enlarges as a peanut, and
grows and natures from the parent
vine above. Should the soil below be-
come too hard for these rootlets to
penetrate they will wither and perish;
hence these varieties will only succeed
on loose, light sandy soil, and can sue.
csed only in small portion of the,
State.
The above described peanuts have
several varieties of white and red, and
scme Of the latter have decidedly an
upright habit of growth. The pods Of
all these are large, holding from two to
three peas each.
They ripen early ali the peas at the
same time, and if not gathered at once
the older ones will soon sprout out
and ruin. Ihave known almost an en-
tire crop to thus be lost during long
wet spells about harvest time. All
peanuts will grow on poor land, and
will enrich it very rapidly, but will re-
spond very handsomely to good Gull
ture and rich soil. The large varieties
meet with ready sale IN the markets,
are easy to gather, can be washed and
dried without damage, and il secured
from rats and mice they can be kept
sweet and nice for several years.
The Spanish peanuts are strictly up.
right in their habits of growth, the,
blossoms have no visible connection
wi b the peas, which mostly cluster
about the tap root, which penetrates
the soil to great depths as does the cot
ton plant, hence it is a great drouth re-
sister. The peas are small, rarely more
than two in pod, often only one.
They are far sweeter than the old larger
varieties and are far richer as food for
either man or beast, being bush pea
they can be planted much closer to-
gether, and will produce fully twice as
much per acre. They are Rs easy to
cultivate as corn; will grow on any
soil, light or heavy, poor or rich,
though they do best on rich alluvial or
sandy loan. Too much rain tends to
rust them, and while they will keep
green and grow through the hottest
dryest summers, yet they do best with
moderate rainfalls scattered through
the season and they will continue to
put on and mature peas until frost,
and rarely ever sprout in the ground.
Last year they yielded me rs to 100
bushels per acre and two or three tone
of the finest hay ever used, fully
equal to the best clover. harvested
them the 2Oth of September.
I have ten acres Of them in cultiva,
tion this year. The rainfall has been
very light the past season and for eight
weeks we have had the hottest, dryest
weather ever ga n, yet my vines look
fresh and green and at this writing
Sept. 2Osb) are putting on fruit stead
lily, though the yield will hardly be
more than half crop.
I believe the Spanish peanut is by
far the most valuable feed crop have
ever grown, one acre Of it being better
than two or three acres of corn, and
just as easy to grow and harvest ;more
over, the peanut vines grow largely
from the air, are large nitrogen gath
erers" and with their large system OF
fine hair like roots they do not impovs
erish but enrich the soil. But as both
the peas and vines are taken off the
land and they are large consumers Of
potash, they should not be grown long
upon the same soil. They are also cub
iect to rust and the repeated growing
of them on the same piece Of ground
will increase this tendency. They are
also subject to the same ''root rot" as
in cotton, and hence it is best to have
them follow corn or other grain.
The past season, my previous years
peanut ground was planted in whip
poorwill peas, and sweet potatoes, and