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Planting Peanuts

The Peanut, Arachia hypogaea, is oneof the important crop plants of the world, but itis not usually considered a subject for homegarden growing. Groundnuts (or peanuts) arementioned in some of the earliest colonialrecords, yet whether peanuts were grown by theIndians is still questionable. it is believed thatthe Peanut is native to Brazil and Peru, but it isgrown throughout the world wherever long hotsummers are common.

A leguminous annual plant, the Peanut issometimes known as a goober as well as agroundnut. Growing 12 to 18 in. tall, withalternate compound leaves of 4 leaflets, there are2 general types. The one more generally grown isthe Runner Peanut, in which the vinelikeplant sprawls, requiring a considerable amountof space. The other, the Bunch Peanut, isbushier and essentially upright growing. Thebunch type is more often grown by those whoharvest the tops for forage.

The gynophore or fruit stalk of the Peanutis commonly called the peg, and is consideredpart of the peanut fruit. The shell or seed portionof the fruit is called the nut or pod. The Peanutdiffers from most legumes in that the fruitmatures underground and the gynophorc or pegis elongated.

The Peanut actually can be grown in all butthe northern tier of states from Me. to Minn.,but it requires such a long season of heat toripen its underground fruits that it is seldomgrown except as a novelty north of Val FromZone 5 south the Peanut is commerciallyimportant.

Flowering in peanuts begins 4 to 6 weeks afterthe plant appears above the ground. From the

Peanut plant-~e the Peanut first became known its floweringand fruiting habits attracted widespread atten-tion. Flowers are of 2 kinds, one showy, yellow,pealike and sterile, the other also yellow butfertile. After pollination occurs, the stalks onwhich are the fertile flowers curve down andpenetrate the soil, carrying the fertilized ovarybeneath the surface where it ripens, becomingwhat is called a peanut.

A warm sandy loam with a pH of about 7.o isbest for peanut growing. Clean culture ispracticed to keep down weeds and to conservesoil moisture. The Peanut yields heavy in a hotdry summer. It is normally planted in drills3o in. apart in the row.

Three major varieties are recognized, `Vir-ginia Runner', 'Improved Spanish' and 'Valen-cia'. Variations, however, occur within thevariety, so it is not easy to distinguish betweenvarieties.

The peanut plant has a fruiting period of about2 months, so it is not easy to determine when thecrop should be dug. If digging is done in timeto save the earlier-formed pods, later ones willbe immature. If it is delayed, early-formed podsof Spanish peanuts will sprout, while 'VirginiaBunch' early pods are left in the soil. The objectis to dig the crop when the largest number ofmature pods can be saved.

Peanut-digging plows with fingerlike barsthat lift the vines from the soil are used. Anewer digger, when tractor drawn, lifts andshakes 2 rows of vines at a time leaving them ontop of the ground. After they are allowed towilt, the vines arc formed into windows.Machines arc used for picking the peanutsfrom the vines. In some growing areas peanutfields are grazed by hogs which do an excellentjob of gleaning the fields.

When grown commercially the Peanut issubject to attack by leaf hoppers, corn earwormand certain soil pests, such as wireworms andgrubs of the June bug. Stem rot, sometimescalled white mold, wilt or blight is a trouble-some fungus in commercial plantations. Causedby Sclerotinium rolfsi, it attacks the plant at thesoil line, being easily recognized by the whitefuzzy growth that spreads along the stems. Thefungus overwinters in the soil on organicmatter as small resting bodies called sclerotia.With favorable spring weather they germinateand spread rapidly on crop debris. Nuts fromstem-rot infected pegs do not cling, remainingin the soil during harvesting. In a severe infectionmore than half the crop may be lost.

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