Birmingham age-herald., 1895-02-13
DOOMED THE PEANUT
"A MERCHANT SAYS THAT IS ONE. oS THE THINGS DONE BY THE WAR.

Crop Due to the Old Soldiers-A St2Rdy
 Demand, No Longer Limited to Fourth
 of July and Circus Days.
 ''I don't suppose there are many people who know that the ever popular peanut Camo originally to this country with the first cargo of slaves that landed on our shores, ,' said dealer in nuts and fruits but such is tho interesting fact. The. peanut Is a native of Africa, and in it's wild state is as full of oil almost as fat possum. Cultivation and change of soil have greatly reduced it's olcaginous qual- ity, although the nuts raised in North Car olina secrete enough oil yet to mako them in demand in France, where they combine with their African progenitor and cotton seed to make great deal of the olive oil we find in our restaurants and groceries.
 And I, don't believe there are many people outside of those who have it who ever heard of the peanut habit, You don't like raw peanuts, do you2 thought not, No one docs until he acquires tho habit, and then he wants his raw peanuts just as regular as he wants his tobacco, provided he chews or smokes, and if he has the peanut habit tho chances arc he is not a tobacco chewer, The funny part of the peanut habit is that it prevails only among veterans of the late war who served either in Virginia CT Tennessee or North Caro- lima. These arc tho states where the bulk of the peanut crop is grown.
 "Perhaps you,can remember how things were before the war. If you can't, will tell you that the peanut then was chiefly holiday luxury to tho great mass of people in this country. The day when the circus %I@a A.,f fot showing it's pumpkins and four minute horse trots, or when tho great and glori- ous Fourth sf July had como around again, were about tho only occasions when the popular yearning for the peanut was in any measure satisfied On these mem- orablo occasions the nut was shucked and masticatod until it couldn't rest It was only in tho towns and large villages that the favored few could have peanuts with them always Before the war there wasn't a peanut roastor in the whole country out sde of the big towns and cities, and tho rural dealers bought their stock already roasted and delivered to them in big, coarse bags Today every crossroads from Maine to California has its peanut stand and it's wheezing steam roaster, and the great American nut has no better stand ing on circus day or Fourth of July than it has on any ordinary day of tho year, ex- cept that there is greater concentration of energy as to it's shucking and chewing on these red letter days.
 sNow, then, large proportion of the soldiers who went to Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina were from the rural districts of tho north. So whom they got among the peanut patches they were, metaphorioally speaking, right in clover. At first they roasted at their campfres the peanuts they pulled from the patches, but it wasn't long before they not only ac- quircd taste for them raw, but actually preferred them that way. The result was that the boys discovered after awhile that they hankered after their peanuts pretty nearly as much as they did for their to- bacco, and after they got homo they brought the longing with them. What has been the consequencea Tho demand for peanuts increased so much immediate ly after the war that the crop didn't begin to supply it. Wide awake farmers saw the point, and garden patches where peanuts had been grown for nobody knew how long were abandoned for broad fields, which were planted with the popular nut, and today Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina are growing something like 3,000,00 bushels of peanuts year, re- suit duo almost entirely to the civil war and tho contracting of tho peanut habit by the soldiers of both armies.
 Naturally tho returned soldiers loud call for peanuts soon placed tho nut within their reach, and that of tho rural popula- tion to tho further limit of Way Back, and tho nut ceased forever to be simply a holi- day luxury. Tho floor of the backwoods grocery is now filtered nightly with tho shucks of peanuts hot from revolving roaster as thickly ns it ever was on the Fourth of July in tho olden time, and tho old soldier can get his supply of raw pea nuts at Way Back Corners just as fresh and regular almost as if ho were still on tho old camp ground, yanking the nuts from their native soil.
 "While the Virginia peanuts arc the best, their popularity was threatened couple of years ago. Consumers began to complain of their having peculiarly dis agreeable taste and smell, and they did too What caused this was mystery to the trade for long time. Finally it was learned that sometimes the shells of a growing crop are discolored by prolonged spell of wet weather, and as one thing that recommends the Virginia peanut as favorite in tho market Is its clean, white, gistening shell, process of cleaning the damaged crop was invented. In it certain chemicals were used that impregnated tho meat of the nut while cleaning the shell When this was discovered, tho artificial cleansing of peanut shells was dscon tinued until the difficulty in the process could be romedied, which has been done.
 Norfolk is the greatest peanut cen ter in the world, about 100000 bush els being handled there during tho year. It is pretty sight to sec peanut planta- tion when tho vines are in blossom The blossoms arc bright yellow and the vines vivid green. No, the nut does not grow from the blossom. As soon as the blossom appears, though, fine branch forms on 3 the vine and shoots down into the ground. 2 The peas, as the nuts are called on the , plantations, form on the shoot beneath the gronnd, like potatoes. When the crop is gathered in October, tho vines are plowed up, and the nuts hang to their roots. Vines and all are piled in cocks in the ] field, and in 20 days the nuts are ready to be pulled off, placed in bags and taken to , the factories. There they are cleansed of dirt, assorted into different grades and po1ished in revolving cylinders when they