in. Moreover, there are six
other species of _Arachis_, natives of Brazil, and Bentham and Hooker,
in their _Genera Plantarum_, ask if the plant so generally grown in warm
countries may not be a cultivated form of a Brazilian species.

If, as seems probable, the Peanut is really a native of America, then
this Continent has contributed to the agricultural world five plants
that have exerted, and will continue to exert, an immense influence on
the industries and commerce of the world. These are: the Potato, Cotton,
Tobacco, Indian Corn, and the Peanut. Of these five, the Peanut, the
last to come into general and prominent notice, is destined to rival
some of the others in importance.

Whatever may have been its origin, the Peanut plant has gradually made
its way over an extended area of the warmer parts of both the Old and
New World, and in North America has gained a permanent foot-hold in the
soil of the South Atlantic and Gulf States. Nor has it yet reached its
ultimate limits, for cultivation and acclimation will inure it to a
sterner climate, until it becomes an important crop in latitudes
considerably further north than Virginia. This is indicated by its rapid
spread within the past few years. Remaining long in comparative
obscurity, it was not until a recent period that the Peanut gained
prominence as an agricultural and commercial staple, but since it fairly
started, its progress has been rapid and sure.

=Natural History.=--There are some peculiarities about the Peanut plant
that make it interesting to the naturalist. Its habit of clinging close
to the soil, the closing together of the leaves at sunset, or on the
approach of a storm, the beautiful appearance of a field of it when full
grown, and the remarkable wart-like excrescences found upon the roots,
are some of its more notable characteristics. Its striking preference
for a calcareous soil is another of its peculiarities, the Peanut
producing more and better crops on this kind of soil than on any other.

The Peanut belongs to the Natural Order _Leguminosae_, or pod-bearing
plants, and this particular member of it is as unlike all the rest with
which we are acquainted, as can well be conceived. No other grows so
recumbent upon the soil, and none but this produces seed under ground.

The botanical name of the Peanut is _Arachis hypogaea_. The origin of the
generic name _arachis_ is somewhat obscure; it is said to come from _a_,
privative, and _rachis_, a br