s of iron to stain the pods. As a rule, the brightest pods bring
the most money, and as the color of the pods is always influenced by
that of the soil in which they grow, it becomes a matter of importance
to select that which is of the right description. Land of the above
nature and color may be regarded as first-class for this crop. But let
it be distinctly borne in mind, that unless it contains a goodly
per-centage of lime in some form, in an available state, no land will
produce paying crops of pods, although it may yield large and luxuriant
vines. Of all the forms of lime, that supplied by the marls of the
seaboard section appears to be the best.

But any soil that can be put into a friable condition, and kept so
during the period of cultivation, will produce salable peanuts, provided
it contains enough lime to insure solid pods. If it is known that a
piece of land will produce sound corn, at the rate of from five to ten
barrels per acre, the planter may rest satisfied, without further
experiment, that it will yield from forty to seventy-five or eighty
bushels of peanuts. As the cultivation extends, and more land is needed
for this crop, much of it is being put upon clayey soil, and when well
cultivated, it generally produces heavy peanuts. Indeed, more pounds per
acre may be grown upon some stiff lands than on any light soil, however
calcareous. But clayey land, or such as is dark or tenacious, will
impart a stain or dark color to the pods that is objectionable to
buyers, and hence soils of this nature are generally avoided. A
tenacious soil is also colder and more inert than a light one during the
earlier part of the summer, and as the Peanut plant requires a rather
long term of warm weather to insure full growth and maturity, a warmer
and quicker soil is preferable. Buyers, however, are not now quite so
particular as formerly in regard to color, and hence there is more
inducement to plant on any ground that will yield good, solid peanuts,
and it is being more frequently done.

But the actual or prospective peanut planter, who has an ash-colored or
grayish soil, which is sandy and non-adhesive, is fortunate. If he will
keep it well limed and trashed, or else rotate every fourth or fifth
year with the Southern Field Pea, or other green crop, and marl, he will
have land that will continue to produce paying crops of the brightest
and most salable peanuts. There is an abundance of good peanut land all
along the Atlan