The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1894-05-01
rAors ABOUT AN OLD FRIEND.
Growing Value and Uses of the
GrOunduut.

~ Ohoot VIZ NoiA0N hthlC6 VI pOduut,
goober, pinder, ground pea and other
titles nearly every body is acquainted
with the groundnut. But its uses and
history ilre NOT so well-known, and the
facts given below will give some in
sight as to the value Of this common
little article.
The humble and slightly esteemed
peanut is beginning to assume import
in the world. 1t Is likely to be
adopted for rations by the army of
the Department of State is
informed. In that country the oppres-
sive cost OF q gigantic military estab-
lishment makes demand for the cheap
est possible food for soldiers. This re-
which Is more nutritious than the best
beefsteak and highly digestible when
properly prepared.
German savants who have been in
vestigating the subject have found
that peanut "cake "-the residue after
oil has been expressed from the nuts
lis a highly concentrated food and
suitable for human beings. 1t Is calcu-
lated to be'of great value to the peas
ant and industrial classes of Europe.
which have suffered from q long and
nearly exclusive diet Of bread and po-
tatoes. Hitherto it has only been en-
ployed as forage for cattle, sheep and
horses. The problem confronting the
experimenting scientists was to con-
Vert this crude material into q palat-
able, nutritious and wholesome human
food, cheap and easily cooked. This
they have perfectly accomplished, pro-
ducing several preparations suitable
for different purposes which have al
ready been placed on the market. One
OF these is peanut grits-the coarse
stuff dried, purified, bolted and packed
in one pound boxes. In this form 1t is
used for soups and cakes, or as q vege-
table.
Peanut flour is similar to the grits,
except that the material Is ground and
bolted like ordinary flour. Another
preparation is in the shape of dry,
light and palatable biscuits or "crack.
ers." The new food is especially re-
commended for the use of persons af-
hicted with diabetes. Also a fairly ac-
ceptable substitute for coffee is made
from peanuts.
Peanuts, raw or roasted are not nut
ritious at all, for the reason that the
digestive functions refuse to assimilate
them. The chewed particles pass
through and out of the body almost
unaltered. 1t is the same way with al
monds and with nuts in general. The
i" goober" has to be thoroughly cooked
in order to be profitable as an article
of diet. Boiled peanut grits, for ex-
ample, are perfectly digestible, even
by sick people.
For the sake of q test, peanut soup
was fed to n hundred and twenty pa
tients in a public hospital. More than
half of them found the new food en-
joyable, and ate it gladly whenever it
was offered. Others consumed it with
out complaint, while about a dozen dis
that it had a rancid taste. But all
throve well on it. Such being the case
with invalids, some of whom were suf-
fering with dyspepsia and other digos-
tive weaknesses, this cheap and nutri-
tious diet ought to be most valuable
for persons in robust health.
The German military authorities,
promptly accepting the suggestion Of
fered by the savants, have been MAX
ing experiments with peanut meal and
grits, served to the garrisons at Frank
fort and elsewhere. They have re-
ported favorably to the ministry of war
at Berlin, and, if further trials are
equally satisfactory, the new food will
be adopted as IN element of the rations
and field sausage" of the army. 1t
is likely also to find acceptance in the
navy. Ono important quality is it's
sustaining power, enabling the con-
to endure much fatigue. In this
particular it surpasses even the hith-
erto nnequaled sofa bean" of China
and Japan.
But the most conclusive evidence in
favor OF the peanut is furnished by an
alysis made by German chemists of
high authority. They have compared
it in respect to nutritive value with
other food, vegetable and animal. Peas
are more nutritious than beefsteak,
white q are more nutritious than
peas, sofa beans are more nutritious
than white beans, peanuts arc moro
nutritious than sofa beans. In q pound
OF peanut grits thcre is nearly twice as
much nutriment as in u pound of peas.
One pound of peanut meal is nearly
equal In nourishing power to three
pounds OF beef. Peanut meal on,y
costs 4 cents u pound in bulk.
At present the most important use
OF peanuts is in the manufacture of oil.
The American ''goobers" are larger,
sweeter and better favored than any
grown in the world. but they are not
SO rich in oil as the African, the finest
OF which from Senegambia and
the east coast. In East Africa and In
dla great quantities of peanuts are
thrashed out by machinery, only the
seeds being exported, so as to save
bulk. At the oil mills the kernels arc
ground and then pressed. The best of
tho product is used for salad oil, the
poorer quality is employed in making
soap and as an ingredient Of olcomar-
garinc. The residue, or .'cake," fetchcs
$50 a ton. The shells of the peanuts
constitute about 23 per cent. of their
weight and are utilized in Germany as
the so-called "olive Oil" sold in this
country is really what it pretends to
be. The balance is made from peanuts
mostly. The best peanut oil costs only
81 u gallon, furnishing q cheap and
passable substitute or ad~ulteration.
Comparatively few people know the
.dlf1erence anyway. Cargoes of pea
nuts are actually sent across the ocean
from America to be reimported as
:. olive OIL" The easiest way to dis
tinguish the real from the false is to
pour a drop or two of nitric acid into
the sample to be treated. Peanut oil
thus treated will char, but olive oil
will not.
This country depends for supplies
peanuts chiefly upon Virginia. In
that State 10000 600 bushels of them
arc grown annually more probably
than the crops OF all the other States
put together. Tennessee comes next
with 100000 bushels. North Carolina,
Michigan and California also
peanuts largely, but the Vir-
ginia COOLERS" are finest OF all and
fetch the highest price, and the area
farming land devoted to them is be-
coming greater every year, as the hus-
lenrns the nrnGt thew cnn ho