Question

encouraged farmers to grow different crops to restore the soil’s nutrients and found hundreds of uses for the peanut.

Answer 1

That describes George Washington Carver (c. 1864–1943). He was an agricultural scientist and educator at the Tuskegee Institute who promoted crop rotation and soil-conserving farming—encouraging farmers to plant legumes, peanuts and sweet potatoes instead of only cotton—and developed many practical uses and products from peanuts, sweet potatoes and other crops. (The oft-repeated claim that he invented “hundreds” of uses for peanuts is somewhat exaggerated, but he did publish numerous bulletins and demonstrations to help poor Southern farmers diversify crops and improve soil fertility.)