LEAFLET No. 5JUY13
Peanuts
THE PEANUT is an important farm crop in Southeast Ala-
bama. Enough peanuts for home use or for fattening hogs
can be grown on every farm in Alabama. This leaflet is de-
signed to give some suggestions concerning the production of
peanuts.
Growing Peanuts
Soils.-Peanuts will grow on practically every kind of soil
in Alabama. Large yields have been obtained in experiments
on the red valley soils of the Tennessee Valley, on the sandy
soils of Sand Mountain, on the sticky, reddish post oak soils of
the Black Belt, and on the grey sandy soils of South Alabama.
These yields show that peanuts grow well on most of the soils
in the State. Although rich land will grow more peanuts than
poor land, this crop will make a fair yield on land that is too
poor for most other crops. For market this crop should be
grown on light sandy soils. Dark colored soils discolor the hulls,
thereby reducing their commercial value. For home use or for
fattening hogs, peanuts may be grown on almost any soil.
Fertilizers. Results of fertilizer experiments in various
parts of Alabama showed that phosphate and lime usually in-
creased the yields of peanuts. Although the yields have been
increased to some extent by fertilizers, it is generally more profit-
able to fertilize peanuts indirectly by growing them in a cropping
system with other fertilized crops. Probably the bestplace to
grow peanuts is on land that was well fertilized with phosphate
for the previous crop. On poor soils where no fertilizer was
used for the previous crop, an application of 400 pounds of basic
slag per acre should be used. This fertilizer contains both
phosphate and lime. When fertilizer is used it should be applied
at or before the time of planting.
Planting.-Peanuts should be planted on well-prepared soil.
Good preparation reduces the cost of cultivation. For largest
yields planting should be done from April 1 to May 15 in South
Alabama and from May 1 to May 25 in North Alabama. Span-
ish peanuts have matured seed at Auburn when planted as late
as July 1, but early planting is advisable.
Shelled seed at the rate of 50 to 75 pounds per acre, for a
spacing of 3 to 4 inches in 2-foot rows, should be planted. For
a spacing of 6 to 8 inches in 3-foot rows, 25 to 40 pounds should
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
OF THE
ALABAMA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
M. J. FUNCHESS, Director
AUBURN
LEAFLET No. 5 JULY 1934
2
be planted. Seed may be shelled at any time before planting
if kept dry and protected from rats and mice. Unshelled Span-
ish peanuts may be planted, but shelled seed germinate quicker
and give a more uniform stand; unshelled runner peanuts should
not be planted.
Thick spacing is essential for the production of large yields.
Thick spacing without fertilizer has made larger yields than thin
spacing with a complete fertilizer. Spanish peanuts should be
spaced as close as is possible, and still permit hoeing, in rows as
close as can be conveniently cultivated. Plants of the Spanish
type are erect and produce the nuts in a cluster around the tap
root; therefore, thick spacing in narrow rows gives the largest
yields.
The runner types should be spaced 8 to 12 inches apart in
3-foot rows. Plants of this type produce runners and bear the
nuts along these runners. For this reason the runners require
wider spacing than do the Spanish varieties.
In Southeast Alabama it is a common practice to grow corn
and runner peanuts in alternate rows from 3 to 31/ feet apart.
The corn is usually harvested and the peanuts either harvested
or hogged-off. This method of planting could be used to ad-
vantage in other parts of the State to produce peanuts for home
use or for hog feed; in North Alabama where runner peanuts
do not mature, either Valencia or the Spanish varieties could be
used. This system of planting, as shown by experiments at some
of the sub-experiment stations, has given a fair yield of corn and
30 to 40 bushels of peanuts per acre. Although the peanuts
reduced the yield of corn to some extent, the total amount of
feed produced with this system was considerably larger than
from corn alone.
Cultivation.-Peanuts should be cultivated frequently from
the time the plants are up until they have almost covered the
ground. Frequent cultivation while the plants are small will
reduce hoeing-one of the most expensive operations in peanut
production. When the plants begin to form pegs, cultivation
should be done with an implement that works the soil toward
the plants. After the pods begin to form they should not be
disturbed; a narrow sweep should be used to keep the middles
clean. When peanuts and corn are planted in alternate rows
the two crops may be cultivated with the same implements.
Inoculation.-Since Alabama soils are naturally inoculated
for peanuts, artificial inoculation is unnecessary.
Harvesting
When to Harvest.-Peanuts should be harvested when most
of the pods are filled and when the inside of the hulls turn dark
and show the veins. If harvested too early there will be a large
percentage of pops, while if harvested too late many nuts of
the Spanish type will sprout and nuts of the runner types will
be pulled off and left in the ground. At the proper stage for
digging some of the bottom nuts of Spanish peanuts may have
sprouted while some of those near the top of the cluster will be
unfilled.
Methods of Harvesting.-Peanuts should be plowed up while
the plants are dry. Shake the soil from the roots and allow the
plants to lie on the ground until the leaves have wilted. When
the leaves are wilted (two or three hours after digging), stack
around poles for curing. Stack poles about 3 inches in diameter
and 9 feet long should be used. These should be set about 2
feet in the ground with two cross pieces about 3 feet long nailed
to them about 18 inches above the ground to support the vines
and to provide ventilation. Stack the plants around the pole
with the roots toward the center. Keep the center of the stack
higher than the edges. Bring the top of the stack up to a peak
and cap with grass or straw to shed rain water. Before pick-
ing, leave the peanuts in the stack until they are well cured.
Thorough curing usually requires from 4 to 6 weeks.
Picking.-Small lots of peanuts for home use may be picked
by hand, though for large lots grown for market a mechanical
picker should be used. Mechanical pickers remove the pods
from the vines and remove a large 
portion of the dirt from the
pods and the hay. Peanuts should not be planted on a com-
mercial scale unless a picker is available.
Do not pick sound peanuts and damaged-ones together.
Damaged peanuts lower the price of the good ones if mixed
with them. Damaged peanuts should be fed on the farm rather
than marketed.
Peanut vines make valuable hay if handled properly. The
hay should be either baled or stored loose in a dry place as soon
after it leaves the picker as possible. Feed peanut hay either
in racks or in wire-bottom mangers to allow the dirt to sift out.
Storage.-After picking, the peanuts should be either sacked
or stored in bulk in a dry place in which there is free circula-
tion of air. Protect stored peanuts, as far as possible, from rats
and mice. 
Do not store 
in sufficient 
bulk to 
cause heating. 
If
the peanuts are spread, rather than piled in one large stack,
there is less damage from heating.
Hogging-Off.-Peanuts are the cheapest fattening feed for
hogs that can be grown in Alabama. An acre of peanuts that
will produce 1,000 pounds of nuts will make from 325 to 350
pounds of pork if grazed in the fall, or from 275 to 325 pounds
if grazed in December, January, and February. An acreage of
peanuts sufficient to fatten enough hogs for the farm meat sup-
ply might be profitably grown on most farms in the State.
Hogs should be turned on when peanuts are in the proper
stage for harvesting-about September 15 for runner peanuts
4
planted the first half of April. Spanish peanuts should be ready
for grazing two or three weeks earlier than runners. Spanish
peanuts sprout and deteriorate if left in the ground until late
in the fall. In North Alabama where the Spanish varieties are
grown for hogs, they should be harvested and fed either from
storage or from the stack.
It is generally known that hogs fattened on peanuts make
softer pork and lard than those fattened on corn. This is not
objectionable where hogs are slaughtered for home use.
Varieties
The Spanish varieties, White Spanish and Improved Spanish,
are the ones principally grown for market in Alabama. Red
Spanish, or Georgia Red, resembles Valencia and is grown to
some extent. Improved Spanish resembles the regular Spanish
variety, but has larger pods and more vigorous plants. The
Spanish varieties are the highest yielding varieties on most soils
of Alabama.
Valencia and Tennessee Red are erect, bunch varieties similar
to Spanish, but have larger pods. These varieties produce long,
medium-sized pods with from one to four peas per pod. They
are good varieties for home use, but do not produce as large
yields as Spanish.
North Carolina or Alabama runner is a running variety which
is grown extensively for hogs. Nuts of this variety do not sprout
in the fall and will keep in the ground all winter.
The large-podded varieties, such as Jumbo and Virginia, do
not fill well and are not grown extensively in Alabama.
Peanuts for Soil Improvement
The peanut is a legume and, like other plants of this group,
gathers nitrogen from the air. Where hogging-off ispractical,
the vines are left on the land and have considerable value in
soil improvement. On the other hand, where peanuts are har-
vested, practically the entire plant is removed with the result
that the soil is made poorer rather than improved by this crop.
Peanuts for Oil
There is considerable interest in the production of vegetable
oils for industrial purposes. The peanut is an important source
of oil. Dry-shelled Spanish peanuts contain approximately 52
per cent oil. The running varieties contain considerably less oil
than Spanish; Virginia runners contain approximately 42 per
cent. One ton of Spanish peanuts in the hull will yield approxi-
mately 600 pounds of hulls and trash, 630 pounds of oil, and 770
pounds of peanut meal. One ton of Virginia peanuts will yield
approximately 800 pounds of hulls and trash, 430 pounds of oil,
and 770 pounds of cake. It may be seen from these data that the
Spanish type is the most valuable for oil production.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY AND SOILS