The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-05-06
THE A TRADE.
How the Are Prepared for
the Market.

Washington Star.
The greatest peanut market in the United
States Is Norfolk. Petersburg comes sec
ond and Smithfeld 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, then are sorted, the bad
ones being picked out by young girls, who
stand on either side Of revolving belts, upon
which the nuts are thrown. Finally they
are packed in bags Of one hundred pounds
each and shipped to jobbers in various
cities. The jobbers sell them raw or
roasted, the latter to grocers mostly. They
do the cooking in great cylinders that will
hold twenty or thirty bushels at q time.
The cylinder revolves at a moderate rate of
speed, while big iron wings inside of it
remain stationary, the result being that the
peanuts are kept thoroughly stirred.
A generation ago most of the peanuts
consumed in this community We're imported
small and round. the she'll containing only
one kernel usually. The American ground
nut is simply the African nut modified by
before long it reverts to the original
1t is said that the negroes brought the first
peanuts hither.
Now the American nuts have driven the
African nut out of our market altogether,
and the latter are regarded as a curiosity
here. Most of the peanuts grown In the
dark continent are sent to France through
the port OF Marseilles, to be pressed for
oil. The finest OF all COOLERS" are the
Spanish, which are considered a fancy
article. and are mostly consumed by con-
fectioners. They cost 20 cents a pound.
retail, and are about one-third the size of
ordinary ones. The big nuts are never so
well favored as little ones. Tennessee
ground nuts often have five or six kernels
in one shell, but the meat Is rank. In
many large cities of the United States
peanuts have become a recognized article
Of and are quoted each day on
Change, like corn or wheat.
It appears from what has already been
said that peanuts are extraordinarily nu-
%tritlous. and that. though almost wholly
indigestible raw or roasted. when reduced
to meal and boiled or otherwise thoroughly
cooked. they are readily assimilated. Ow-
ing to their low proportion of sugar and
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 antl-fat diet. From
two points of view their value as food Is
of interest TO Americans. In the first place,
would il be desirable or practicable to in
troduce the meal and grits here? Secondly,
is this new discovery likely to stimulate
the demand for United States peanuts? The
latter question is likely to be answered
in the negative, nasmuch as this kind OF
crop can be grown and gathered In Africa
more cheaply than in this country.
OF course. as a matter of fact, the peanut
Is not a nut at all. 1t is a sort of pea-an
annual that has TO be planted every year
and dies in the fall. The blossom of the
plant puts forth a little a~ppendage, which
makes it's way into the moist earth. and
sweils out below the ground into a pod that
has from one to four peas in 1t. When they
field to dry and finally cleaned and sorted
for the market.