The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-08-31
THE FARMERS CONVENTION

make the rows wide. Soil washed
away can never be regained.
In conclusion Mr.. Simpkins en-
phasized the Importance of seed St
lection.
Mr.. A. l.. French, Of Rockingham
endorsed in a spirited speech the adj
dress by Mr.. Simpkins. He declared
he knew men III North Carolina with
1000 acres of land who did not have
$500 to work on. Farming requires
capital and the farmer should borrow
money. More live stock, more hay,
more grain can be grown on North
| Carolina lands than On Western lands,
he asserted. and he wanted to see
10, 900 m in this State just like
Mr.. Simpkins.
Mr.. T. E. Brown, county superin-
tendent of schools of HEREFORD coun-
ty, demonstration, representing S. A.
Knapp, United States Department Of
Agriculture, and a Successful farmer,
spoke on Peanu as a Farm Crop"
Hartford last year raised more pea
nuts than any other county, he said.
Mr.. Brown discussed the history of
the plant, saying it had been agreed
that it was a native Of Brazil. AS
late as 1860 it was not as a
commercial crop, it's value beginning
from 1865, and today the crop is es-
timated to be worth $4,000, 600, and
now it is q leading crop in the States
in which it is grown. Seven million
bushels are consumed in this country
annually as a luxury. 1t is growing
in Importance.
The peanut is one of the best of
the legumes, and this recommends
itself to the armer It's vines make
one Of the best 1t is gen.
orally supposed that the fruit is borne
on the roots. but this is erroneous;
the fruit comes out from the stem on
the branches and is entirely separate
from the root system.
There are five or six main varieties,
the Virginia Bunch being the leading
variety, but the variety best suit
ed to a particular soil must be deter
mined. The small North Carolina
pea, or the Wilmington, is grown al
most to the exclusion of all others in
the New Hanover section; in the Hert-
ford section the Virginia Bunch, a
large pea. leading. North Carolina
and Virginia produce 60 per cent of
the entire peanut crop of America,
Virginia growing about 10 per cent
more than North Carolina The bulk
Of the peanut crop is sold on the
street by vendors, and they desire a
large peanut with a light colored
hull.
A light or gray sandy loan is the
best soil for growing peanuts for the
market. Red and heavy land will
produce more and heavier peanuts, but
there is danger Of the hull being dis
colOred. Peanuts can be grown in
many sections of the States where
they is not now grown.
An important matter that has been
neglected is seed selection. No crop
responds more readily to seed selec-
ton than the peanut. A peanut dug
just a little before maturity will give a
better stand; it is necessary to get
a stand from the first planting, for re-
ntQntad Daq niIfC naVar ~ ~ RI onu-
thing.
Cheap fertilizer may b. used for the
peanut, as the plant is a legume and
gets nitrogen from the atmosphere.
nitrogen being h costly part Of fer
tilizer.
An average crop of peanuts per acre
is SO to SO bushels, but some farmers
grow from 100 to 125 bushels to the
acre, which is an unusually large
crop.
Mr.. Brown discussed every phase
Of peanut culture, from selecting the
seed, preparing the land and plant
ing to harvesting. Raising pork is a
growing industry in the East, the pea
nuts being one of the very best things
for fattening hogs. When some Of the
hogs are permitted to root them, they
lose the vines into the ground and
make one Of the very best land i'm
provers. The peanut farmers raise
more pork han they consume.
He advised following peanuts with
corn and corn with cotton, then pea
nuts again. The peanut is a legume, /
he said. that requires the soil to be-
come inoculated, and a very good crop
cannot be expected the first year.
The peanut vine as forage is worth
twice as much as fodder or timothy
and as valuable, he declared, as clo-
yer. Besides the peanut, the plant
a crop Of hay and a crop of
pork. The vine is rich in protein and
produces the finest hams known.
The general discussion of the pea
nut question was led by Mr.. Thomas
w. Blount, Of Roper, who said Mr..
Brown had gone over the entire
field, worse han a flock of black