The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1896-01-06
THE POTENT PEANUT.
ONE WOULD HARDLY THINK THE
HUMBLE GooRER so IMPORTANT.

About Four Million Bushels Raised In
This Country Every Year-The Most Ha-
tritiOus and by Far the Cheapest OF
FOOds-substitute For Olive Oil.
side of localities in which it is grown,
and even where il is most largely grown
its possibilities are for the most part not
at all realized, and it is not by any
means made to yield the highest results
it is capable of. Taking into account all
its sources of value, the peanut ought to
be one of the most profitable Of the gen
eral farm crops in the south. The fol
lowing facts about it are in the main
condensed from a bulletin of the United
States department of agriculture pre-
pared by R. B. Handy Of the Office Of
experiment stations.
The yearly production Of peanuts in
this country is about 1000, 600 bushels
of % pounds, the bulk of the crop being
produced in Virginia, Georgia, Tennes-
see and North Carolina. These 4,00O,-
900 bushels, while fully supplying the
present demand of the United States,
constitute but q small part of the pea
nut crop of the world, as the exporta-
tion from Africa and India in 1892
amounted to nearly 400, 900, 900 pounds,
of which 222, 900, 900 pounds went to
Marseilles for conversion into oil.
The largest part of the American crop
is sold by street Yenders, but small
amounts are used by confectioners, choc-
olate manufacturers and for the manu-
fscture of oil. Peanut oil is used for
lubricating and soapmaking and is
good substitute for olive oil for salads
and other culinary purposes and as a
substitute for lard and cOttOlene and
batter in cooking. The residue from oil
making, known as peanut cake, " is
highly valued cattle food in the coun-
tries Of Europe and is also ground into
fine -four and used as human food. 1t
makes good soup, griddle cakes, muf-
fms, etc., and is one Of the most nutri-
tive of foods. The vines, when dried,
become a very nutritive hay. readily
eaten by stock, though requiring care in
the feeding lest it produce collie.
The present uses of the peanut and its
products are likely to be greatly extend
ed and new channels of utility found
for it, as has been the case with cotton
seed. With better methods of tillage and
larger yield per acre the cost of pro-
duction could be greatly lessened. Ac-
cording to the eleventh census, the aver
age yield of peanuts in the United
States in 1889 was 17.6 bushels per
acre, the average i'll Virginia being
about 20 and in Tennessee 30 bushels
per acre. This appears to be very low
average, especially as official and semi
official figures give 90 or 60 bushels as
an average crop, and 100 bushels are not
an uncommon yield.
While the peanut has been cultivated
in the United States to a limited extent
for a number Of years, it is only since
1866 that the crop has become of pri-
mary importance in the eastern section
of this country, which seems peculiarly
adapted TO its production. Between 1865
and 1870 the rapid spread of the culture
of peanuts was phenomenal. Each year
doubled and at times increased three
fold its crop over that of the preceding
year, SO that this country, from being a
large importer Of west African nuts,
was soon able to supply the domestic
demand with the home raised article
Virginia, North Carolina and Tennes-
see produce q large part of the peanut
crop of the United States. Within the
last few years this crop has ceased to be
as profitable as heretofore. The method
of culture-the annual planting of nuts
Al L. L. 80
tation of crops, the complete removal OF
all vegetation from the land and the fail
ure to replenish the soil by means OF
fertilizers-has been a great factor in
reducing the profits Of the crop by re-
ducing the ability of the land TO pro-
duce such crops as were previously Sc
CURED in that section, so that now in
stead of an average of so bushels per
acre, with frequent yields of over 100
bushels, the average in the peanut sec
tions is not over 30 bushels, while the
cost of cultivation has been but slightly
reduced.
AS regards food value, peanut kernels,
with an average of 30 per cent of pro
tein, 40 per cent of fat and IA per cent
Of carbohydrates in the dry material,
take high rank and should be classed
with such concentrated foods as sofa
beans, cotton seed, etc. The vines are
shown by analysis to be superior &c
timothy hay as feeding stuff and but
slightly inferior to clover hay.
The ground hulls are used to a con-
siderable extent as a coarse fodder in
European countries. Peanut meal, the
ground residue from oil extraction. is g
valuable feeding stuff highly appreciat
ed and extensively used in foreign coun.
tries. 1t contains, As the averages oi
over 1000 analyses show, about 90 pen
cent Of protein, 8 per cent of fat and 81
per cent Of carbohydrates and is one Of
the most concentrated feeding stuff,
with which we are familiar, ranking
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