The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1895-08-14
MONEY IN PEANUTS.
Ten Million Dollars Spent Annually
Anoarica for Thia uEruItn

len mlllOu lIOlthrs spcuJ AnuudlAy Ah
America for This "FruIt."
A man incidentally asked street
vender if his peanuts were frst-class,
and the response to the inquiry was
surprising, says the Chicago Tribune.
NO" said the vender. ''You do not
get first-class peanuts in this country
in this way. The best peanuts are used
for other purposes. They are made
into meal and grits by scientific men,
and in Germany they are prepared for
sick people in the hospitals The pea
nuts you get in candy are the very
poorest grade. And some of the burnt
almonds which you get are nothing
more than fourth-rate peanuts.
Where did the peanut come from?"
"From Central and South America.
They grow there in long pods, and the
pods contain from four to five kernels.
They were carried to the old world in
the early days, and in the seventeenth
century they constituted the chief
staple of Africa. You will find if you
look it up that the slave dealers of
Africa in those days used to load their
ships with peanuts to be used as food
for their human cargoes. The negroes
who were imported from Africa to this
country brought over the peanut and
they were scattered and first grew in
Virginia. And now this country is rails
ing the crop, and, owing to American
shrewdness, the nut is ground and used
for various purposes and shipped all
over the world.
II reckon you know" the vender con-
tinued, "that peanuts in n certain condl-
tion are more nutritious than beef.
When specially prepared they rank
with beans and peas. The peanut is
said to contain 30 per cent. of protein
and 40 per cent. of fat. What is known
as peanut meal contains SO per cent. of
protein and per cent. of fat. 1t is the
cheapest of all food materials"
In 1861 and 1865 peanut oil was man.
ufactured largely in four southern
states, and was employed as n substi-
tute for olive oil. In fact, one drug
gist admitted, some of the "olive oil'
sold now in this country is nothing
more than peanut oil. Nearly all of the
olive oil sold in the United States is
mixed with part of the peanut. Pea
nuts furnish from 80 to SO per cent. of
the weight of their kernels in oil.
Sometimes peanut oil is used for light
ing, and again it is utilized to advan-
tage in the making of soap and as a
lubricant in machine shops.
The American peanut is larger and
better favored than any other, but it
does not contain so much oil as the Af-
rican nut. The "cakc" which is left
after extracting the oil makes excellent
feed for cattle, and is used very largely
for that purpose in Germany, where it
sells for $50 to $33 ton. This country
owes to Germany the suggestion it has
received in relation to the edible quail
ties of peanuts, and the department of
agriculture is now investigating the
method of Germany in the way in
which that country has handled the
nut, and the result is to be published
by the department for the benefit OF
the farmers.
The United States now produces
100000 bushels of peanuts annually,
or IS, 900, 900 pounds. The total worlds
supply amounts to about 100000, ,0OC
pounds. The expectation from Africa
and India to Europe during the last year
amounted to nearly 400, 100000 pounds.
of this quantity 222 900, 900 pounds were
delivered at the port of Marseilles,
France, the bulk of it being pressed for
oil.
1t is estimated that s1O,OOO,OOO worth
of peanuts are eaten every year in the
United States, and most of the quanti-
ty, it is said, is consumed between
meals and at odd times.