Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-21

the ocean from America, to be reimported
as olive oil" The easiest way to dis
unguish the real from the false Is to pour
to be tested Peanut Oil thus treated will
char, but olive oil will not.
The Finest Coolers.
This country depends for supplies Of pea
nuts chiefly upon Virginia. In that state
100000 bushels Of them are grown annual
ignore probably than the crops Of all
other states put together. Tennessee comes
next with 10000 bushels. North Carolina,
Georgia, Michigan and California also raise
peanuts largely, but the Virginia "goobers"
are al; finest of all and fetch the highest price.
The business of growing them has become
q vast industry in the lower counties, and
the area of farming land devoted to them is
becoming greater every year, as the hus-
bandman learns the profit they can be made
to yield.
The Greatest Markets.
The greatest peanut market in the United
States is Norfolk Petersburg comes second
and Smithfield third. In these towns there
are many big factories employed in the
business of rendering marketable the nuts
that are sent in by the farmers. They are
first thoroughly winnowed and screened to
cleanse them, and then are sorted, the bad
ones being picked out by young girls, who
stand on either side Of revolving belts up
en- which the nuts are thrown. Finally
they are packed In bags of 100 pounds each.
ana shipped to jobbers in various cities
The Jobbers sell them raw or roasted, the
latter to grocers mostly. They do the cook
ing In great cylinders that will hold twenty
or thirty bushels at a time The cylinder
revolves at moderate rate of speed while
Dig iron wings" inside of it remain sta
tionary, the result being that the peanuts
are kept thoroughly stirred.
generation ago most Of the peanuts
war fv,,v.A fal
from Africa The African "goober'' is
small and round, the shell containing only
one Kernel usually. The American ground
nut" is simply the African nut. modified bv
conditions Of soil and climate in the United
states. Plant our peanut in Africa and be-
fore long 1t reverts to the original African
type from which 1t was produced 1t is
nuts hither.
Now the American nuts have driven the
AFRICAN nut out of our markets altogether
ana the latter are regarded as a curiosity
mere. MOST or the peanuts grown in the
uark comment are sent to France through
the port OF Marseilles to be pressed for oil.
The finest of all "goobers" are the Spanish.
winch are considered fancy article, and
are mostly consumed by confectioners. They
COST ~ cents pound, retail, and are about
one-tnlrd the size of ordinary ones The
Dig nuts are never so well favored as little
ones. tennessee ground nuts often have
i've or SIX kernels in one shell, but the
United states peanuts have become a rec
ognized article of commerce and are quoted
each day on change. like corn or wheat
OF Interest to This Country.
1t appears from what has already been
said that peanuts are extraordinarily nu-
tritou7, and that, though almost wholly
indigestible raw or roasted, when reduced
to meal ard boiled or otherwise Thoroughly
cooked, they are readily assimilated Ow-
Ing to their low proportion of suear ana
starch they may serve to enlarge In most
welcome degree the bill Of fare of persons
under treatment for obesity. In other
words, they are an ideal anti-fat diet
From two points of view their value as
1000 is or interest to Americans In the
nrst place would 1t be desirable or prac-
ueabie to introduce the meal ana prits
nereF Secondly. is this new discovery
iIkeiy 10 stimulate the demand for United
states peanuts? The latter question "a
nKeiy TO be answered In the negative in.
asmuch as this kind of crop can be grown
ana gathered In Africa more cheaply than
In this country.
of course, as a matter Of fact, the peanut
Is not nut at all. 1t is a sort of pea-ari
annual that has to be planted eyery wear
and dies in the fall. The blossom of the
plant puts forth a little appendaze. which
makes Its way into the moist earth and
swelis out below ground into a pod that
has from one to four pease In It. When
they are ripe they are pulled uo. stacked
in the field to dry and finally cleaned and
sorted Tor market. RENE BACHE.