The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-06-05
THE PEANUT AND IT'S USES.
Marseilies, Strange to say, the Gen.
trail Market of the World.


From the Philadelphia Manufactures.
Americans have come to look upon the
peanut chiefly as an article of food asso-
ciating 1t with circuses, country fairs, and
the Bowery. It's employment for food
purposes is, however, one of the least inn
portant of its uses. Although Europeans
seldom eat the nuts. Marseilles is the pea
nut center of the world. In 1893 that city
imported 81 .241 tons of unshelled, and s,579
tons of shelled peanuts, and that was not
an unusual year. Bordeaux also uses
large quantities every year. but the first
named city stands in Europe az the head
Of the production of vegetable oils from
oleaginuos Seeds The chief sources of
the city's peanut supply are Bombay,
Mozambique, and Senegal, although large
quantities are received from other places.
In the Marseilles crushing mills for
handling peanuts, the shells are broken
by means of toothed rollers, and the kerr
nels separated by system of winnowing
machines such as are used in flour mills
The inside red skin is then removed by
revolving sleeves. and blasts. and the
kernels are ground, after which they are
ready to be pressed. The pressing takes
place in the same manner in which other
oleaginous seeds are pressed, the meal
DcluB GHNGiOPtu 6lfOHB HDFOuS mats
and subjected TO hydraulic pressure. The
resulting cake is then reground, the oil
remaining in the meal secured as in the
first instance. The oil is graded accord
ing to first. second, or third extraction.
This oil, after being clarified by filtra-
ton and the admixture of fuller's EARTH
Is put on the market, and used as an H.
luminant, and more extensively as an
adulterant In olive OIL In which latter
fields it's chief competitor is cottonseed
oil.
The cake left is sometimes chemically
treated 10 secure the oil that may have es-
capped the presses, but whether thus
treated or not, 1t is valuable as a food
for cattle. The husks are sometimes used
for fuel, and they have some value as
fodder, although goats are about the
only animals that will eat them when
not mixed with the peanut cake.
! In the United States, the raising of
these nuts Is not extensively engaged in,
except in Tennessee, Virginia, and North
Carolina, although a good many are
grown In all the Middle Southern States.
The crop for the entire country in is.
was about 100000 bushels. of % POUNDS
each which was an increase Of about
1000. 900 bushels over the crop OF 1898.
There are some twenty plants for grind
ing peanuts In the United States, these
being chiefly situated in the states where
the nuts are extensively grown. There
is single factory In tennessee Whlcn
handles five tons of peanuts daily. The
output secured at this rate of consumption
includes 235 gallons of refined OIL which
sells at 81 per gallon; ito gallons of crude
oil at so cents, $3.50 pounds of flour and
meal at cents, and $500 pounds Of stock
feed at co cents. per 100 pounds, making
the gross receipts about $41590 per day.
and at this rate the annual profit is said
to average s19,725. These figures may be
open to some amendments and modera-
lions, but there seems to be no doubt
that many of these plants are yielding a
large return for the small amount of cap
ital invested.