The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1895-07-12


Ten Million Dollars spent Annually In
America for This "Fruis."
A man incidentally asked q street
vender II his peanuts were 6rst-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 II 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.
IL reckon you know" the vender con-
tinued, that peanuts in certain condi-
ton are more nutritious than beef.
When specially prepared they rank
with beans and peas The peanut is
said to contain 20 per cent. of protein
and 40 per cent. of fat What is known
as peanut meal contains 81 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 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 so 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
4 A
rican nut. The cake" 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 S33 a ton. This country
owes 20 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
1000, 900 bushels of peanuts annually,
or $4,000. 900 pounds. The total world S
supply amounts to about coo, 900, 900
pounds. The expectation from Africa
and India to Europe during the last year
amounted to nearly 400, 900, 900 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 $4,000, 600 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.