The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1865-11-21
Fer the Western Democrat.
VALUE OF THE PEANUT CROP.

| ANY one familiar with the immense value of the
| Olive. which furnishes the cream and butter of
all Southern Europe, may form some idea of
| what value the Peanut, oil-producing
plant, may become to US. 1t furnishes bland.
limpid oil which for all cooking purposes is supe
| rior to lard. A Partisan cook prefers Olive Oil
| for frying. shortening, &C., &C., and We who are
| SO fond of greasy dishes. and who find lard and
| butter so hard to procure in these hard times,
| ought to wake up to the Importance of producing
a better article than either. more healthful. and
more abundant. The Pea nut produces from SO to
| 100 bushels per acre, and am informed by Mr..
Joseph Tooke. an enterprising manufacturer OF
Hayneville, Ga. that "a pounds of good clean
| peas in the hull will produce 3 quarts Of oil. A
bushel of peas, from which all the defective ones
| are removed, will weigh from 90 to "a pounds.
The poorest land at this rate will produce over
80 gallons of oil per acre, and acres in Pea
| nuts would make about barrels, a Sufficient
quantity, think, for all family purposes. The
Peanut Oil, unless properly purified and ex-
cluded from the air, will become rancid. just as
butter and lard will become rancid. and we know
what pains are taken in France and Italy to pre-
| serve Olive Oil fresh, by the careful manner in
which our salad oil bottles are sealed. Mr. Tooke
owns Hydraulic Press and has been manufac-
turing this Oil ever since the commenced.
He says:
"Being engaged in cotton and wooden factory,
| at once saw the Importance of Oil to keep up
my business / therefore set to work to make
Oil, which find pays more in proportion to cap
ital invested than anything l have. l elso raise
the Ground Peas my farm and find them
very profitable crop, making more per acre than
anythng plant The Oil for machinery has
but superior. and that is, the best quality of
Sperm Oil. 1t makes very good Salad Oil
some prefer it. The yield per bushel of peas is
Is per cent-that is "a pounds of good clean
peas in the hull will make three quarts of Oil.
am running all my machinery, factory, wood
shops and engines, and nothing else, and
believe get along just about well when l
used the Sperm Oil. have kept some over a
year and find no difference in it. 1t rs also
very superior Lamp Oil. use it entirely for
lamps. I could manufacture it for one-ffth of
the Oil, but prefer to buy the peas and raise them
together. I can, with six hands, make an average
is fine food for hogs, (of course-what can be
better y and upon the whole, the raising of Ground
Peas is good business, and pays all way
through. Oil is worth in Macon $35 per gallon
by the barrel. I have sold some at $40 to $50"
The soil best snited to the Peanut is light and
sandy, such as will best suit water melons and
sweet potatoes Too damp or irrigated land will
not do. as the pea will over-shoot itself The
time to plant is from the LIST to the 10th of April.
Break up your land and level with the harrow;
open your drills four feet apart from one to two
inches deep. The pea has to be broken and two
kernels dropped in the drill, twenty four inches
apart. +'S'i;
Mr. Cannon. of Florida. plants them with his
corn in alternate rows. He says: There is-no
crop yields such ample pay for the labor be-
slowed on it as the pea. lay off my corn land
in drills, three and helf feet apart, planting
every alternate row in corn, the other with the
pea. thus making each seven feet apart, giving
good room to work EACH After gathering cut
of corn the last of August, turned in my hogs
the first day of September. and they have not
had an ear of corn thrown to them up to this
writing, March 22d, and were it not that the field
has to be planted for the next crop..there would
be ample supply for them or two months
to come One might ask if raised my own pork,
to which reply yes. and nearly double suffi-
cheney, that killed from the field without
days confinement for corn feeding This, of
course, in the mild climate of Florida. is better
than could expect to do here, but still be-
lieve the crop to be of immense value to as, the
greatest of which is as an article of food. Mr.
Jefferson was greatly interested in the expert
ment of introducing the Olive tree into the South
ern States. He said there plant so val
uable-that few trees would support family
the Oil making such a number of vegetable dishes
palatable and noursbing. in the way of frying,
enriching &c. The experiment has failed ex-
cepting the Southern coast. but may not
hope few acres of Pea will supply every
family with an abundance of Oil equal to the
Olive.