Some may wonder at the small amount of lime reported to be present in the ash. This may be explained by stating that lime is not _per se_ a manure, but a powerful chemical agent when applied to the soil, reducing inert matter into plant food. Lime appears to be the driving-wheel in the laboratory of the soil. Its presence is essential, but it does not do all the work itself. Of marl, the best fertilizer yet discovered for the Peanut, the principal ingredient of value, is carbonate of lime. Some of the Virginia marls range as high as seventy and eighty per cent. in carbonate of lime. This form of lime is very valuable for all agricultural purposes. Like its more caustic relative, it plays the part of a solvent and liberator, refines and vitalizes the soil, and causes other ingredients to perform their part in building up the framework of plants. FOOTNOTE: [1] While "goober" may be one of the names of the Peanut in some localities, the plant so-called in Georgia is _Amphicarpæa monoica_, a native leguminous plant with two kinds of flowers, one set always subterranean, and the other above ground. The under-ground flowers bear woody, rounded, one-seeded pods, with a seed closely resembling a bean.--ED. CHAPTER II. PLANTING. =Soil, and Mode of Preparation.=--A warm soil is required by the Peanut. A light, porous soil in which sand predominates, but not too sandy, warm and dry, and yet not too dry, but containing some moisture, and open to capillary circulation, suits the Peanut best. In all cases the soil most suitable for the Peanut must contain a certain amount of calcareous constituents. The color of the soil should be gray, with few or no traces 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.