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The Effect of Calcium on Certain Characteristics of Peanut Fruit 1
Author(s) -
Colwell W. E.,
Brady N. C.
Publication year - 1945
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1945.00021962003700090003x
Subject(s) - citation , library science , horticulture , computer science , political science , biology
THE EFFECT OF CALCIUM ON CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF PEANUT FRUIT’ W. E. COLWELL AND N. C. BRADY~ HE effects of various elements on the yield of peanuts and the T development of kernels have already been discussed (I, 2 , 3) .3 The present paper deals with certain characteristics of peanut fruit as affected by calcium supply. On soils low in calcium, applications of calcium sulfate to the foliage at blooming time have been found markedly to increase yields and kernel development of large-seeded type peanuts (I , 2) . Additions of potassium or magnesium sulfate were, in general, slightly detiimental to fruit filling. Also, the use of dolomitic limestone did not result in proper kernel development. That the nutrient requirements of peanuts must be considered on the basis of variety has been pointed out (3). For example, large’seeded type peanuts have been found to respond much more to calcium additions than the small-seeded Spanish varieties. For this reason, in this paper consideration will -be given to differences due to varieties. The data reported herein were obtained simultaneously with those on yield and quality from the field experiments referred to above. This was made possible through the use of classification and sampling technics which have been described in detail elsewhere (2) . Particular attention was given to the effects of nutrients upon (a) the proportion of 2-cavity size fruit, (b) the percentage fill in the Iand 2-cavity size fruits, and (c) average weights of kernels from several fruit categories. In some of the experiments referred to above, three varieties of small-seeded peanuts were compared with Virginia Bunch, and data are therefore available to compare the effects of treatments on the fruit characteristics of the four varieties. Since the treatments used varied somewhat from experiment to experiment, their description is given in Table I. The locations are designated in all tables by the initials of cooperating growers.