Peanut

a plant of the pea family having the remarkable habit of bearing its pods on underground stems. Also called groundnut and goober. There are several species. Botanically the peanut is a peapod and not a root at all. Peanuts are planted in rows and cultivated like beans which they resemble in many ways, except that the fruit stems run underground. Peanut plants are grown best in light, sandy soils and are lifted when harvest comes by a specially constructed implement known as a peanut plow, which tears the plants out and shakes them free of soil. The peanuts are then pulled off by hand, dried, cleaned from dirt, bleached, and sent to market in large sacks. They go twenty-two pounds to the bushel. Peanuts form an important article of food among certain African tribes. Naturalists are of the opinion that our peanut is a native of Brazil. Its cultivation in the United States prior to the Civil War was restricted to the southeastern part of Virginia. The great number of Northern soldiers encamped in that region acquired a taste for the peanut, and on their return made it known all over the United States.

Virginia still leads in the production of peanuts, with an annual yield of over 3,700,000 bushels. North Carolina comes next with nearly as many. Then come Georgia and Alabama. Tennessee raises nearly 1,000,000 bushels. The peanut belt now reaches from Virginia southward and westward through the Gulf States into Texas. The total annual production as given by the last United States census was nearly 12,000,000 bushels, an average of 23.2 bushels per acre. The farm value was sixty-one cents a bushel or a total value of $7,271,230. An estimate for 1905 adds one-half to these totals. In 1908 we shipped 250,000 bushels abroad.

Peanuts are used for home consumption, and in the making of confectionery. Peanut oil and peanut butter are also in the market. Peanut vines cut green and properly cured make excellent forage for horses and cattle. Peanut pasture is very acceptable also to hogs. The French use peanut oil as an adulterant for olive oil, in soapmaking, and as a lubricant.

Children who are fond of peanuts will understand this riddle: