The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-04-13

after they are shaken out peESft
stacking. 1t is better to allow them
to get quite dry before Stlclln@. "a
there is danger of their taking i hat
if stacked green especially II q w
days of warm, rainy weather low
digging.
They should be put under c shelter
as soon as dry enough to shake in the
hull, or picked off by hand and spread
in a dry, airy place 1t is always bet
ter to have seed a picked by hand,
as there is danger of the machine
breaking the hun ana skin.
AS the large varieties have to be
shelled for planting in the spring, it is
necessary to be careful not to break
the skin on the kernel. Some people
use a pepper, made Of a timber piece
of wood, etwee the ends of which
the u is broken. This should be
used by particular hands, otherdlse
the skin will be broken on q large
per cent of the nuts. 1t pays TO go
over them carefully after they are
shelled and get out all inferior n
broken nuts to insure q good stand.
The land should he Well broken TO
a depth of six inches and narrowed
to get in good condition. The time
of planting depends very largely on
location and climate. AS soon as a
farmer feels satisfied that all danger
of killing frost is past he should be-
gin to plant. In the peanut section
of North Carolina and Virginia the
bulk Of the crop is planted between
the first and tenth Of May.
The distance between rows and hills
must be determined by fertility OF
the. soil and the variety to be planted.
The Running varieties must be given
more space than the Bunch varieties.
On fertile soil all varieties should be
planted farther apart. Three-foot
rows and - inches in the drill are
average distances for Bunch peas. The
Fiat or Running varieties are planted
in rows Of the same width as the
Bunch, but are given more distance
in the drill on an average, about 1t
inches being a good distance. The
Wilmington or North Carolina variety
is often planted in checks 2 IL feet
one way and 2 feet the other way.
The branches grow to a length OF
eighteen or twenty inches on fertile
soil, in which case the rOWS have to
be further apart. The Spanish can be
planted more closely together than any
OF the varieties mentioned. In some.
sections the prevailing distances are
? IL DOT rows and 6 inches in the
drill.
1t takes about two bushels of I'M
shelled or one-half bushel of shelled
peas of the large varieties to plan an
acre. It is much better to plant too
many and thin them than to replant.
There is no period during the
growth of the peanut crop when more
careful attention is required than at
digging time. A large per cent of the
peanuts OF North Carolina are injured
every year by being dug too early.
Farmers with a large acreage get in
too great a hurry to begin, and dig
a large part Of the crop before the
nuts are mature, consequently they
lay inferior stock. The time to dig
is the largest per cent of ma
ture peas can be saved, and that is
usually when they begin to shed
around the tap root. 1t is far better
to allow a few Of the peas around
the tap roo to shed and be saved
by the porkers, han to dig earlier
and lose the peas near the ends of the
branches, which are MOI nature. The
shedding of the nuts and not of the
leaves hOu determine the time of
digging.
Peanut oil ranks next to olive oil as a
oil for domestic use. Where
it can be had at sufficiently rea-
price, it is used instead Of
and other oils, and fats for, cook
ng, preparation of salads, etc. On ac-
Of the high price of the pea
nut. the manufacture Of peanut oil
not succeeded in this country,
,hough it is made in considerable
Quantities in foreign countries. When
he oil is pressed from the nuts, pea
nut cake, which is ground to make
peanut. meal, is left and is a highly
and valuable food for both
lulnan and animal consumption. It
S largely used in some countries as
human food. It contains so or more
,er cent OF protein, which is the most
'ostly constituent in food n enables
t to take largely the place Of meat.
AS fOod for hogs the peanut has
20 equal. Pork fattened on nuts left
n the ground after picking is one Of
he chief crops of the peanut belt.
of hogs fattened on peanuts are
lOted for their delicate flavor. In a