Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-01-18
THE POTENT PEANUT.
ONE WOULD HARDLY THINK THE
HUMBLE GooeER so IMPORTANT.

tritious and by Far the Cheapest Of
Foods-substitute For Olive OIL.
But little is known of the peanut out
side of localities in which it is grown,
and even where it 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 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 1900, 900 bushels
of % pounds, the bulk of the crop being
produced in Virginia, Georgia, Tennes-
see and North Carolina. These 4,O00,-
900 bushels, while fully supplying the
present demand Of the United States,
constitute but small part of the pea
nut crop Of tie world, as the exporta-
ton 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 vendors, but small
amounts are used by confectioners, choc-
olate manufacturers and for the manu-
facture of Oil. Peanut oil is used for
lubricating and soapmaking and is a
good substitute for olive Oil for salads
and other culinary purposes and as
substitute for lard and cottolene and
butter in cooking. The residue from oil
making, known as peanut cake" is a
highly valued cattle food in the coun-
tries Of Europe and is also ground into
fine flour and used as human food. 1t
makes good soup, griddle cakes, muf
fins, ETC., and is one of the most nutri-
tive of foods. The vines, when dried,
become 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 in Virginia being
about 90 and in Tennessee 80 bushels
per acre. This appears to be q very low
average, especially as official and semi
official figures give 90 or GO bushels as
all 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 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 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
OH the same land, the lack of proper TO.
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 tine 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 90 bushels pei
acre, with frequent yields Of over 10C
bushels, the average in the peanut sec
lions is not over 90 bushels. while the
cost Of cultivation has been but slight ly
reduced.
As regards food value, peanut kernels
with an average of 90 per cent of pro
TEN, 40 per cent of fat and ii per CEN
of carbohydrates in the dry material
take high rank and should be classet
| with such concentrated foods as sol;
beans, cotton seed, etc. The vines ART
shown by analysis to be superior Il
timothy hay as feeding stuff and bu
| slightly inferior to clover hay.
The ground hulls are used to con
| siderable extent as 4 coarse fodder il
European countries. Peanut meal, til,
ground residue from oil extraction, is
valuable feeding stuff highly appreciat
ed and extensively used in foreign coun
tries. 1t contains, as the averages o
over 1000 analyses show, about 52 pc
cent of protein, per cent of fat and 2
per cent of carbohydrates and is one o
the most concentrated feeding stuff
with which we are familiar, ranking
with cottonseed meal, linseed meal, etc.
and in some cases ahead of them.
In describing the uses of peanuts 1t
scarcely necessary to more than refer
the use to which fully three-fourths
the American raised crop is devoted
The nut is serted in the factory int
four grades, the first, second and thir
being sold to vendors Of the roasted pea