Shari Jones, age 13, of Gadsden, Ala., for her question:
HOW ARE PEANUTS GROWN?
The peanut is not a nut. It is a type of pea and it is the fruit of the peanut plant. To grow properly, the peanut plant must have at least a five month frost free season. Peanuts are planted in the late spring and are dug up by machinery in the fall before the frost comes.
The farmer will plant one of two main types of peanut plants: the bunch and the runner. The bunch type grows upright while the runner type spreads out on the ground as it grows.
Plowing must be deep and thorough. Loose soil is important. Workers plant seeds two to three inches deep at intervals of three to six inches and in rows about two feet apart.
The plants bear small yellow, pealike flowers where the leaves are attached to the stems. The plants grow flowers continuously for up to three months. The flower buds open at sunrise. Fertilization takes place during the morning and the flowers then wither and die about noon.
Within a few days, stalk like stems of the pods called pegs begin to grow. They grow slowly at first, but then grow more quickly.
The pegs grow downward and push into the earth to a depth of about three inches. The grown pegs may be up to eight inches long. The tips of the pegs hold the developing seeds. They swell and mature into peanut pods. Most of the pods hold two seeds but some may hold only one and others three.
Harvest must come at exactly the right time. If the crop is harvested too early, many pods will not have ripened. If they are harvested too late, the pegs may snap ado the pods will be left in the earth. Most pods ripen in 120 to 150 days after the seeds are planted.
Farmers use digging plows to slice through the main root of each plant. Plants with pods attached are taken from the earth and left to dry in the sun.
Sometimes the plants and pods are collected when they are half dry and are then dried artificially.
Machines called combines take the pods from the dried plants. The pods are then cleaned and graded before they are shelled.
Large peanuts are selected to be sold unshelled. They are cleanea, polished and whitened before they are ready for market. Then the manufacturer roasts the peanuts to a rich, brownish color.
Some peanuts are salted and roasted in the shell. This little trick is accomplished by soaking the peanuts under pressure in water that has been salted and then drying them before they are roasted.
Lots of peanuts are shelled before they are roasted. Salt is often added then during roasting to improve their flavor.
Lots of peanuts end up as peanut butter and some as peanut oil.