Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-01-01
CrITr,.E 0r TIE PEANUT.
pAsFt-sHAas ABOUT AN EATAelE
eojs AID GIRLS ARE FOND or.

w
pAsFt -sHAas ABOUT AN EATAelE
sois AID GIRLS ARE FOND or.
Ne, tn. ssso- xas Crow sssA TsssAs
Large Crcp-ss. Culture :. Assrses-fAs
o,A-v u . Grsss T.ssstss Nth ~
resc..S Psovss-A Ssh-steass - Csess-
The ,-saak sometimes caiisd ground 20
- &~-,,S VT =. kv~wn IN EAe soathefu sfaeo
. th- p'-aer AMI ronnsr: and soe freece
s>is i, .rs.-h d. terra IL is suaeeauy -
lisv~t IA. u a native u Africa. ~hsre II Is ths
NH. al f,od ii soms Of the Congo uiho,
Int s.ss,- - eve sre~ses of The nut are found
growing wila in brazil IL. cultivation has
b.en s-,-r-=seuliy introduced into Srsin-
In LII. acantsy It II rais~i principally "
sb, state. < Virginia. North Carolina and
rsnp~,sse. Asd nas bssn more recearly cuifs
vased in California
Tb~ culture of the peanut u NOT dimcult
Land ,,.lse-i % tn. raising Of corn or melons
\ e.oerslly saiec;sd. and care 10 taken that
thers l. nothing in the ground that would
stain tie so.ila Planting time begins when
the danger 10 plants from fruss has pA.sl
IN. ground il p,owed ave or sx inches deep
and then narnwed Ths nuts are taken
from the pods without breaking the skins, are
nlaus..i two or three ,ogethr in rows about
tbrp.. feet apart and twenty incne~ from hlu
to mil, and are covered With two inches Of
Earth When 10 = short time the vine Is eight
Or ten inches long and begins TO blossom II Is
covered with ~ inch Of sod. care being taken
70 leave the tip cod uncovered The vines
ba,ssom profuSpiy with small yellow howerA
and - the flower f.ds away . sharp pointed
stsn grow. out from its base, turns down
ward and buriGs itself in the ground; on the
end OF the stem . thick sheiled pod forms and
eniarges RAPIDLY All the care that is neces-
s.ry after the stem returns to the ground u
u keep the Land free from weeds. In Octo
Der, when the nuts are ripe, the farmer
Lo.ens the es.rtk and pulls up the vines, ~
which the nuts osiheTs. and turns them over
10 dry Tie performs this work only in pleas
ant weather, and when the grcond is dry.
After tie vi;,es have lain in the sun Tor
dav. which u generally sufficient time for
driving them, lhs grower stacks them around
q stake about i've feet high
HANDLING THE CROP.
Toe vines remain in stack from three 70
five weeks. after which the nuts are picked
ID, placed in sacks aud shipped TO market A
vine under favorable co4ditions often bears
more than a hundred nuts, and the yield per
acre averages forty bushels. Most OF the
Virginia and North Carolina crop, which is
about two thirds Of the whole crop OF the
country, is marketed in Norfolk and Peters
burg Va the rest, with the whole crep OF
Tennessee, is carried to ST. Louis or Cincin-
natl In each Of these cities are factories
where tine nuts q they are delivered by the
farmer sr. bought The nuts as they appear
at this stage, with earth and their stems still
| clinying to them, are hardly TO be recognized
as tine bright nut we afterwards see on the
| corner stand To polish them, and 70 70
move the earth and stems, the nuts are
scour-,i in large non cylinders from which
they tp,ss tnrou,a blast fans, in which .
| strong current of air separates the fully do
| y.lop.f nuts havin. sound kernels from those
| iniperfectly ii!csi, and from empty pris. 'fhe
| sound nuts fall through the fan upon picking
| tables where those which are discoiored are
| taken out and the bright ones are passed on
| into sacks which will each hold about one
| hundred pounds nf NUS Each sack IL mark
] ed with the brand which indicates the grade
of its contents. The dart and the partially
| filed uuts are shelied. and the kernels are
used by coniertioners in making peanut
candy the work OF picking over ami spa
rating the nuts is performed by little girls
about twenty Of whom arr employed at
every table
| Three varieties OF peanuts grown in
this cuuntr. the wiita. the red and tn. Span
| lxh The ute. which IS the most mp ftant
| variety, has nut with two kernels VI ith pink
skins its vine spreads along tue ground, IN
| this respect unlike that of the red variety,
which grows more upright and IN u bunch
| The pod II the real nut holds three and S'ine
| tin-s tar kernels, and has deep red skin
| The Sp..i-h Is a liit''u smaller NAV, with
| lighter ,a!n and miiia; favor thah either OF
the o1L.r- p.-s.ssses The eutire crop Is siielled
AMI used especially in that rich CONNECTION
| known as n"ugat The history of the com
| ,,etitio,i l.,' ween the home prrin t and the
impaired peanut Is interesting and gives one
some idss Of the Importance Of the peanut
trade.
INCREASING DEMAND
In 1872. AMI for several years previous,
there were annually importel into New
| YORK nal. million bushels IF peanuts, the
greater uart " which came from Africa and
the rest from Spain. The American farmers
gradually awakened TO . perception OF the
profits +" I've male by raising the nuts
Mon ,a,c,-. were turned into peanut
s.,as and in 1875 the s..,i of the Spanish nut
wa. pl.nt-l N. Virginia. the pr,.urt was
,,,,,d 10 ,,,,,t thai of the fore,a nnt, and
40 !, cos, w, ar three c~n.s , pn,ni i.s- to
,,,rL., tho cro, :, VI, not Io,,g i.,fore ,ne
-, ,,,, o. d.;v., from ,t,.. n.rket
A, ,,,...,t vir,;,i, Snrth Carolina and
go o,,,.. ,,,I,.,,,es
H.. ,..n ,,,.. 'e,n.,,m,,;o,, Of u.,.nu,s in the
~, g. 81, ,h.r ~ ,,iI,;nn
-, r. $50 ,,, ,,n,,, nod ,rcr.a.s,
ou."e ~ ,n;r., ,,,lI;n,, hnshals an ~
W .'.' "' ~ r.;..d Co.. .na
C r. - -. ,...n,,s ms
CN .' e.. 80 ~. cr,n
~ - ..ss..;.,,. =, s.,,,,.lv th. 40
-, ,r.;., ~ ,..,n,s varies ACCORD
year was hve cents = puna "a