Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-01-31
PEANUTS AS RATIONS
MAY BE USED BY THE GERMAN
ARMY.
A NUTRITIOUS FOOD CAN BE
PREPARED FROM THEM.
One Pound Nearly Equals Three
Pounds of Beef-Kernels Used for
"OIve OiT'' and the Shells for Max
ing Paper-Where They Are Grown.

The humble and slightly esteemed
peanut is beginning to assume i'm
portance in the world, says a Wash
ington correspondent of The Boston
Transcript. 1t is likely to be adopted
| for rations by the army Of Germany,
the department of state ait Washing
/ ton is informed. In that country the
oppressive cost of gigantic military
establishment makes demand for the
This requirement is met by the
"goober," which is more nutri tious
than the best beafsteak and highly
digestible when properly prepared.
| Such, at all events, are the conclu-
siOns arrived ait by DR.. NOrdlinger and
other Geaman savamts who have been
Investigating the subject. They have
found THAT peanut ''cake"-the residue
after Oil has been expressed from the
nuts is highly concentrated food suit
able for human beings. 1t is calcu-
lated to be of great value ito the peas
ant and industrial classes of Europe,
which havs suffered from a long and
pOta toes Hitherto it has only been
employed >as forage for cattle, sheep
and horses. The problem confront
! ing the experimenting scientists was
to convert this crude material into a
palatable, nutritious and wholesome
human food, cheap and easily cooked.
This they have perfectly accomplished,
producing several preparations suit
able for different purposes, which
have already been placed ON the mar
ket. One of these is peanut grits-the
coars stuff dried, purified, bolted and
packed in One-pound boxes. In this
form it is used for soups and cakes,
Or as a vegetable.
| Peanut -four 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
! CRACKERS" Ihe new food is espe-
cially recommended for the use of
persons afflicted with diabetes.
Also a fairly acceptable substitute
| for coffee is made from peanuts
| One interesting fact aScerta1ned by
! the German savants is that peanuts
raw or roasted are not nutritious at
all, for the reason that the digestive
| functions refuse to assimilate them.
The chewed particles pass through and
{ out of the body almost unaltercd. 1t
is the same way with almonds Ind
with nuts in general. The "gOoDer"
has to be thoroughly cooked in order
to be profitable as an ARTICLE of DIET
Boiled peanut grits, for example, are
perfectly digestible, even by sick peo-
pie.
For the sake of a test, peanut soup
was fed to one hundred and twenty
| patients in a public hospital. More
than half of them found the new food
enjoyable and ate it gladly whenever
it was offered. Others consumed it
| without complaint, while about a
dozen disliked it extremely, being af-
| fected with stomach ache Or vomiting
after taking it. They complained that
it had rancid taste. But nearly all
! throve we'll on it, Such being the case
| with invalids, some of whom were
suffering from dyspepsia and other
digestive weaknesses, this cheap and
nutritious diet ought to be most valua-
BILE for persons in robust health-par-
ticularly for soldiers, Sailors working
! men and inmates of prisons and asy-
lums.
The German military authorities,
promptly accepting the suggestion of
fered by the savants, have been max
ing experiments with peanut meal and
grltS, served ito the garriSOnS at
Frankfort and elsewhere. They have
reported favorably ito the ministry of
war at Berlin, and, if further trials
are equally satisfactory, the new food
will be dopted as an element of the
rations and field sausage of the
army. 1t is likely, also, to find ac-
ceptance in the navy One important
quality is its sustaining power, ena-
bling the consumer to endure much
fatigue. In this particular it surpasses
even the hitherto unequaled "soja
bean" of China and Japan.
But the most conclusive evidence in
favor Of the peanut is furnished by
analyses made by German chemists of
high authority. They have compared
it, in respect to nutritive value, with
other foods, vegetable and animal.
| Pease are more nutritious than beef
steak; white beans are more nutritious
than peas SOFA beans are more nutri-
tious than white beans; peanuts are
/ more nutritious than sofa beans In
a pound of peanut grits there is
nearly twice as much nutriment as in
a pound of peas. One pound of pea
nut meal is nearly equal in nourishing
power to three pounds of beef Pea
nut meal only costs four cents 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 elsewhere in the
world, but thy are not so rich in oil
as the African, the finest of which
come from Senegambia and the east
coast. In East Africa and India great
quantities Of peanuts are threshed out
by machinery, only the seeds being
exported, so as to save bulk. At the
OIL mill the kernels are ground and
then pressed. The best of the product
is used for salad oil; the poorer quality
is employed in making soap and as an
ingredient of oleomargarine. The resi-