The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1881-10-01
Peanuts.

ne peanut crop Is perhaps the most
important of any of our domestic nuts.
The trade has assumed immense propor
tions, and is steadily increasing in volume,
while the business is very generally being
| confined to no particular section of the
country. These nuts seem to be the most
popular of any sold in our markets, and
the quantities disposed of each year are
astonishing. To the average small boy
the enjoyments of the circus are not com
plete without bag of peanuts, and the
visitor who comes to the city on the Fourth
of July delights in munching the oily
seeds, throwing the shells in all directions,
as he views the sights about him. The
cultivation of peanuts, their preparation
for market, as well as the business itself,
give employment to thousands of people,
and IN many instances constitute the sole
occupation of the little street merchants
We give below few notes concerning the
growing of the nuts, the manner in which
they are made ready for sale, together
with the present state of trade.
As perhaps is well-known, peanuts are
seeds of an herbaceous plant of the pulse
family. The vines are grown to best ad-
vantage on light, sandy soil, for the nuts
are apt to run to seed and become worth
less If the ground is too rich and fertile.
The plant yields annually, the nuts being
dug in the fall, and, after drying q short
time in the sun, they are carefully busted
to remove the sand and dirt. The peanuts
are then ready for shipment, and are pack
ed in heavy gunny-bags, holding from four
to four and a-half bushels each. Former
ly peanuts came almost exclusively from
South America and Africa, they being ma
tives of tropical climates, and lie these hot
countries they are still cultivated for food
to large extent OF late years, however,
they have been grown so extensively in
our own country that the importations have
almost entirely ceased, the domestic arti-
Gle being much cheaper and also Of bet
ter quality. Hand-picked peanuts are
those which have been sorted by hand, the
largest of these commanding the highest
market prices. The bulk of the crop in
the United States comes from Virginia,
North and South Carolina, Georgia and
Tennessee.
Peanuts are eaten both roasted and raw.
Many persons prefer them in the latter
condition, the flavor being similar to that
Of uneooked green peas, while in appear
anee they cannot be distinguished from
those which have been baked. There is
but one peanut baking establishment in
this city and here the bulk of the crop re-
eeiyed in Boston is sent for roasting.
Some dealers send their peanuts to the
coffee roasters, but the nuts are simply
dried and the favor is consequently i'm
paired. The peanut bakery consists of a
low room, in which are three brick ovens,
similar in form to regular bakers oven.
The hottest fires are kept up all the time,
not only for roasting during the day but
also over night, in order to have the ovens
in readiness for the next mornings work
A whole bag of peanuts is put into an oven
at one time and an attendant constantly
stirs them up with long, wooden rake to
prevent their burning. A man must have
considerable experience to bake peanuts
successfully, for unless proper care is taken
some viii be burned to a coal, while other
viii be only half cooked From time to
time some of the nuts are opened to ascer-
tain the progress of the roasting process
and after about fifteen minutes cooking
they are generally baked sufficiently.
The roasting process is very severe on
the ovens, on account of the continuous
hot FIRE, and it is necessary to constantly
replace the bricks, while the iron doors
become worthless after two months of SER
vice. In the summer time when the
largest amount Of work is performed the
heat in the bakery is almost unbearable,
and the men are obliged to remove nearly
all their clothing. No peanuts arc sold at
the baking establishments, the nuts being
sent there by dealers to be roasted, the
charges being fifteen cents per bushels.
There was falling off in the roast
ing business a short time ago, occasioned
BY the small dealers at the street corners,
baking peanuts themselves in little fur
mace, but the expense Of this plan has led
many to give up the idea, and the majori-
ty of the vendors purchase their peanuts al
ready roasted. There is large baking
establishment in Providence, r. l., where
the nuts are roasted in huge revolving
cylinder, but the results are not so salts
factory as those obtained from an old
fashioned brick oven. Peanuts are sold by
the pound 10 a raw state, the present quo
tations being from three to FIVE cents, but
after being roasted they are retailed by the
quart or bushel, the nuts losing considera-
bic weight during the process by shrink
age.
The business is generally improving, aud
the sales each year are enormous. From
the three States of Virginia, North Caro-
lima and Tennessee alone the crop last
season was upwards Of 100000 bush
els, besides those raised in other Sec
tions Of the country The trade con-
tinues the year round, though during any
public holiday, especially those which oc-
cur in the summer, the quantities sold are
marvellous At the bakery above referred
to the average day work is from thirty to
forty bags per day, though a much larger
number is baked on extra occasions. The
use of peanuts in different kinds of cou-
dictionary and cake has largely increased
the sale of nuts, and they are also used
for an oil which is expressed in considera-
bic quantities from the seeds, and which
is said to be in no way inferior to olive
oil. Some people regard peanuts as un-
wholesome, but judging from the quanti-
ties which are annually consumed with
apparent impunity they certainly cannot
be considered as very injurious.-B Boston
Ca2tiUdt0r.
THE MAsToDoN.-Prof G. G. BroG-
head contributes to the Kansas Revieto an
interesting paper, in which he enumerates
all the discoveries that have been made of
mastodon remains in the United States.
The huge animal appears to have had
wide range in this country in past ages.
The earliest record that we have of the
finding of the bones of mastodon is con-
tanned in letter from Cotton or Increase
Mather to the Royal Society of London,