The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-09-19
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Peanuts.
HOW THEY ARE HARVESTED AND
PREPARED FOR TIE CONSUMER.

PREPARED FOR TIE CONSUMER.
A novel exemplifcation of the max
i'm, "No great loss without some small
gain,' is found in the history of the
peanut. A quarter of century ago
the peanut was to great extent lux
ury over the greater part of the Union.
The rustic beau who brought bis girl
III town for the circus. and the city
youth who took his cheap and lofty
seat in the theatre, thought their
treats deficient unless they indulged in
peanuts--by no means an everyday in
diligence Now, like oysters inland,
this fruit takes its place among the
commonest of ediDles--a result due al
most wholly to the civil war and one
of the new developments in Southern
agriculture.
Formerly Eastern North Carolina
produced all the peanuts grown in the
United States, and called them 5000
bers.' There is a story of a North
Carolina regiment in the Confederate
army which early in the war was sent
into Northern Virginia. Marching
along one day, an hungry as usual,
these men came upon field of clover
something none of them had ever
seen before, and, mistaking it for pea
nuts, they broke ranks, leaped the fence
and began tearing up the roots Of the
plant. Bitter was their disappointment;
and ever afterward the regiment went
by the name of ''goober grubbers. y
The Federal soldiers, who had known
peanuts as a holiday treat, found them
in quantities in certain regions, and
acquired new enjoyment of them.
When they went home they demanded
them of the dealers, who found
that the crop was not large enough to
supply the demand.
1t is difficult to get anything with
promptness out of North Carolina.
But the Virginians are quicker, and
began to meet the call by widening
their little garden patches into great
fields. Now two-thirds of the two and
quarter millions of bushels expected
of this years crop will come from the
Old Dominion. The counties engaged
are Southampton, Nansemond, Isle of
Wight, Surry, Sussex, Prince George,
Princess Anne, Gloucester, Norfolk,
and, to less degree, Warwick and
Charles City. All of these lie 10 what
is known rs the Underwater" section of
the Slate-down in the southeastern
corner. Tennessee raises 100000
bushels, while the Carolinas give about
100000. Maryland and Delaware pro
duce small amounts.
The peanut is not indigenous, but
was brought from Africa with the
slaves-came over with the conquered.
The African nut is now unmarketable
in the United States, but is used in
enormous quantities i'll Marseiles
France, as one of the sources of ''oliye
oil, along with Indian cotton seed, etc
Transplanting to American soil chan
ged the character of the nut and great
ly improved il for eating. 1t made il
larger and reduced the excess of oil.
The soil required for the best success.
with this crop is one light and dry
upon which thirty to forty bushels OF
slaked lime, or $50 bushels of common
mari, to the acre, have been spread
In March the land is ploughed, wei
ragged and cleaned of grass, ridgec
and cut down. Planting takes place
from the lst to the 18th of May, tn,
seed being placed in rows about four
teen inches apart and covered by {
stroke OF the foot, The seed, in ordeI
to be good, requires very careful watch
ing in curing, TO avoid cheating" suf
hcient to kill the germ, and should ther
tore be selected and tested with grea
care. Soon after the plant comes ~
1t Is attended TO repeatedly, at inter
walls OF ten to fifteen days, with cult
vator and hoe, upon the thoroughnes,
OF which work largely depends th,
character OF the harvest. Some us,
the horse cultivator altogether, aban
doning the hoe, The blossom is vel
low and pretty. Almost simultaneous
y with its appearance, shoots form
upon the plant and make their way
INTO the ground, These are called
''pins, and bear the "peas' beneath
the surface. The digging takes place
between the 10th and 2Olh of October
and consists in throwing the vines out
of the ground with plough made for
the purpose. On the same day, as soor
as dried, the vines are shaken free OF
soil and stacked in the field int
"shocks." In from ten to twenty day,
both vine and nuts will be completed,
cured and ready for market The vim,