The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1894-02-15
FOR FARMERS.
MASTER TIE SITUATION.
Bow :o Make Double Money cn Pea
nuts.

Judge U'ai',r Clark ia Tle EcNeiu.'
Edward Atkinson. tie we'll known
economist. .,a- recently written an adj
lnirah!c article. pointing OFT the ne.
Of the peanut. especially rs u produce'
Of oil He il was who, wears ago. point
oil and its manurial and feed qualities
as cotton seed meal, and the Waite o
the hulls Prior to this. on man,
farms cotton seed was disposed of n,
waste Now Mr. Atkinson predicts ths
future usefulness OF Tie peanut ~ ~
oil producer and in other ways.
But before we 90 into its production
extensively attention should be called
to the syndicate which controls the
sale of the nuts, making its members
millionaires and the producers paupers
The number of peanut buyers is small
These have formed Il trust or syndicate
the farmers stock" is not salable, ano
all peanuts before becoming marketa-
BILE must 20 through what they are
pleased to dignity with the name of
peanut factory" By another Of their
rules no factory will take the nuts on
toll, but they must he sold to the own
er of the factory This delivers the
farmer alive into their hands.
The peanuts are sold on the market
at price fixed by the syndicate, which
is at present about two cents per pound.
They are run through the 'factory' at
pound, and are then sold to the retail
merchant by wholesale at four or scy-
en- cents per pound, according to local-
ty The profits being pooled are pre-
sumably divided. No wonder the far
mers find no profit in making peanuts
and that the factory owners are becOm-
ing millionaires Farmers generally
raise small crops of peanuts, and each
not feeling largely interested, rs class
they are ignorant of the gross imposi-
ton practiced upon them in this, as in
some other matters. Imposed upon by
the word factory" they are led to
think that there is some costly and
mysterious process in preparing the
peanuts for market There is nothing
Of the kind. The peanuts are poured
into revolving cylinder which polishes
them and blows out the pops and dirt
AS they come out they fall upon a
broad, endless belt which carries them
along to be bagged. Negroes stand Oh
each side Of this moving belt and
with paddles deity sort the peanuts
They are then bagged and sold for
more than double the price paid the
farmer The process of thus preparing
them costs not more than one-tifth OF a
cent.
1t was also thought that the process
was not only mysterious and required
skill-which we see is not so-but
that the machinery was expensive.
But is is said by those who know, that
the machinery OF one of these sO-called
factories will not cost more than
$500 to 500, and that the whole plant
including machinery, building, en-
everything-should not cost over
$1,000 10 50 800. 1t was also urged
that there was patent on the mach
inery. A party who was bold enough
to defy this claim and establish his
own factory demonstrated by suit in
court that there was no patent, and
thereupon it is said the syndicate took
him in and he is now one of our op-
pressors and fast becoming million
aire.
As last resort, to discourage put
ting up factories it is given out thai
large capital is required to establish a
brand and put it on the market. On
the contrary, the writer has recently
had correspondence with numerous
dealers from San Francisco TO Boston.
and from New Orleans TO Montreal,
and readily had offers varying from
four and one-half to seven cents for
nuts, without any question as to brand.
The only requirement was that they