The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1896-02-05
THE POTENT PEANUT.
ONE WOULD HARDLY THINK THE
HUMBLE soosER so IMPORTANT.

Eoods-substttutc For Olive OIL.
But little is known of the peanut out.
side Of localities in which it is grown.
and even where IL is most largely gruwn
its possibilities are for the most part not
az all realized. and IL is not by any
means made 10 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 II the gen
eral farm crops in the south. The fol
lowing facts about il are in the main
condensed from a bulletin Of the United
States department Of agriculture pre-
pared by r. b. Handy Of the Office ~
experiment stations
The yearly production OF peanuts in
this country is about 1000. OOO bushels
Of % pounds. the bulk Of the crop being
produced in Virginia. Georgia, Tennes-
see and North Carolina These !. 4.OO0.-
600 bushels. while fully supplying the
present demand of the United States.
constitute but a small part of the pea
nut crop uf the world, as the expurta-
tion from Africa and India in 1892
amounted tonearly 400. 600, 600 pounds.
Of which 222. 600. 600 pounds went u
Marseilles for conversion into oil.
The largest part Of the American crop
is sold by street venders. but small
amounts are used by cunfectioners, choc-
Olate manufacturers and for the manu-
facture Of oil. Peanut oil is used for
lubricating and soapmaking and is n
good substitute for olive oil for salads
and other culinary purposes and as a
substitute for lard and cottOlene and
butter in cooking. The residue from OH
making, known rs peanut cake. Is n
highly valued cattle food in the conn
tries Of Europe and il also ground into
fine -four and used as human food. IL
makes e a soup, gTiddlc cakes. muf
fins, etc, and Is une 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 il 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 il. as has been the case with cotton
seed. With better methods Of tillage and
a larger yield per acre the cost of pro
duction could be greatly lesSened. Ac-
cOrding 10 the eleventh census. the aver
age yield Of peanuts in the United
States in 1889 was l7.6 bushels per
acre, the average in Virginia being
about 20 and in Tennessee - bushels
per acre. This appears to be a very low
average, especially as official and semi
official figures give so or 90 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. IL i only since
1866 that the crop has become ~ phi
mary importance IN the eastern section
uf this country. which seems peculiarly
adapted 70 it, production. Between 1865
and 1870 the rapid spread uf the culture
Uf peanuts WAS phenomenal. Each year
doubled and at times increased three
fold it, crop over that 81 the preceding
year. so that this country. from being
large importer Of west African nuts.
was soon able to supply the domestic
demand with the home raised article
Virginia. North Carolina and Teunes-
see produce "A large part If the peanut
crup Of the United States. Within the
last feNv years this crop has ceased 20 be
as profitable as heretofore. The method
of cultuTe-the annual planting Of nuts
on the same land, the lack uf proper ro-
tatiOn of crops. the complete removal Of
all vegetation from the land and the fail
ure TO replenish the soil by means II
q. ers
reducing the profits Of the crop by re-
duciug the ability Of the land to pro-
duce such crops as were previously Sc
cured in that section, 80 that now in
stead Of an average Of 80 bushels Per
acre. with frequent yields of over 100
bushels, the average IN the peanut seq
tion- Is not over 90 bushels. while the
cost uf cultivation has been but slightly
reduced.
AS Asregards food value, peanut kernels.
with AN average of 20 per cent OF pro-
tein, 40 per cent Of fat and IL per cent
Of carbohydrates in the dry material,
take high rank and should be classcd
with such concentrated foods as sofa
beans. cotton seed. etc. The vines are
shown by analysis to be superior 10
timothy hay rs feeding stuff and but
slightly inferior TO clover hay.
The ground hulls are used TO cen
siderable extent as a coarse fodder in
European countries. Peanut meal, the
ground residue from oil extraction, j. n
valuable feeding stuff highly appreciat-
ed and extensively used in foreign coun-
tries. II contains, as the averages Of
over 900 analyses show. about 90 Ter
cent uf protein, 5 per cent Of fat and -
per cent Of carbohydrates and is one Uf
the most concentrated feeding stuffs
with which we are familiar. ranking
with cottonseed meal, linseed meal, etc.
and i'm some cases ahead u them.
In describing the uses Of peanuts il il
scarcely necessary 10 more than refer TO