The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-05
THE RAW PEANUT HABIT.
why Bath. n. r.. Sells More UnrOasted Pea.
nuts Than ANY Other Place I'm the state.

why Bath. n. T.. Sells More UnrOasted Pea
nuts Than Any Other Place in the state.
The village of Bath. IS said a wholesale dealer
In nuts. sells more raw or unroasted peanuts
than any other place in this State. As a matter
OF fact, the sale of raw peanuts is quite the
feature OF the peanut trade in Bath, because
there are more people thore who have the raw
peanut habit thar there are in any other one
place in the State. The reason for 1t is that the
State Soldiers Home is located there. That Is
why Baths peanut trade is unique in the
quantity OF raw peanuts IT handles.
"No one likes raw peanuts until he acquires
the habit, and then ho wants them just as reg
ularly as he wants his tobacco. Before the civil
war the peanut was chiefly n holiday luxury to
the great mass of the people in this country.
The day when the circus was in town. and the
day when the county fair was whooping it up
in. behalf the honest husbandman and the man
with n trottinR horse. and whom the
great and glorious Fourth OF July had come
round a~gain-and 1t came round with bells on
In those we're about the only occa-
sions when the popular yearning for pea
those memorable OCCASIONS the nut was
shucked and masticated until every bucolic
Jaw was lame. 1t was only in tho towns and
large villages that tho, favored few could have
there wasn't a peanut rooster in the whole
country outside the big towns, and the rural
dealers bought their stock OF peanuts already
bags. To-day every crossroads, from Maine 10
California, has it's peanut stand and Its Wheel
ing steam rooster, and the great American nut
has no better or more exclusive standing on
circus day or the Fourth Of July than it has OH
n greater concentration and application of
energy In its shocking and chewing on those
81 large proportion OF the soldiers who went
south with the Union army were from the rural
psStaiesS' of ~ %'i Mdsh my NSr TS' G SnShe .n sn Dff Tsnt
nesseethey were, metaphorically speaking. right
IN clover. At first they roasted AT their cauip-
but 1t wasn't long before they not only
learned .nSG to like them roT' but actually
that the bows discovered after a while that
they, hankered after peanuts almost ms
tho longing back home with them after the war
was over. What has been the consequence
The demand for peanuts increased 80 rapidly
with the return of peace that the crop then
farmers in virginia., North Carolina and Ten:
peanut vines, Which had been not much
moro than an incidental adjunct TO the
proved cultivation and new methods In
caring for and, disposing of, the crop
cruditier. The peanut crop Of these three
States amounts 10 more than i. OOO,OOO bushels
and the oontraetiRE Of ne peanut habit OF the
soldiers. The bulk OF this crop is handled, pre-
pared, ana shipped .som NorLolk. the value OF
"Naturally, the returned soldiers loud call
for peanuts soon brought about a situation that
placed them within his reach and that OF the
rural population TO thc lurthcst limits OF way
back, and the nut coRsed forever 10 bO simply n
holiday luxury. The floor OF the back woods
grocery is nov Uttered nightly with shucks OF
peanuts. hot from a revolving roaBler, thicker
than il ever was on any Fourth OF July OF tho
olien time, and tho old .oldier can got his sup.
ply OF raw peanuts at Wayback Corner Just az
fresh aud regular almost as II he we're still on
the old camp ground yanking the nuts from
their native soil.
80 that is why the Soldiers Home at Bath
makes that village the champion raw.pennut
centre OF the state. There are hundreds of Old
soldiers living At the home, and many OF them
have the wartime peanut habit, and IL takea
heaps OF the nuts 70 keep pace with q"