The Portland daily press., 1900-11-10
SOUTHERN PEANUT FIELDS.
They Look Like Glover Fields-A Great
Neutrality-suspicious. OF Bushels Ex-
ported.

ported.
(From the st. Louis Globe Democrat.)
This lie peanut time In the South.
Going through eastern Virginia and
North Carolina the traveller can see
through the car window row after row
of what appear to be round bushes. They
are the stacks or shocks of peanut vines
hung around sticks waiting to be placed
upon wagons and carried away for strip
ping. Some OF the larger fields win con-
tain lUoo Of these stacks, yielding from
50 tots bushels Of nuts to the acre. Most
OF the nuts grown in Virginia and North
Carolina are the COOLERS. The goober is
to the actual peanut what the quahaug Is
to the genuine clam. The shell usually
contains but two kernels. The real pea
nut, which answers to the Rhode Island
clam, Is smaller than the goober. The
kernel is about the size of large pea,
and Its flavor is sweeter than the other
variety. 1t Is grown principally In North
Carolina and Tennessee. Occasionally a
few get into a bag OF COOLERS, but very
seldom, as they are shelled and sold from
10 cents to 15 cents peck more than the
the oil factories OF Europe.
The peanut farmer begins planting as
soon as the frost is out OF the ground In
the spring. The shelled nuts form the
seed. and about two bushels are required
for an acre. In few weeks the plant
gets above the earth. and begins to leaf
out. A field Of peanuts looks very much
like a field Of clover, and during the war
many Of the northern soldiers mistook
clover fielis for peanut patches while
hunting for something to vary their ra-
lions. The plants grow In rows. very
much like potato vines, and are cultivat.
ed In much the same way. Weeds VIII
soon choke their growth, and the picka'
ninnies on the farm are kept busy during
the summer In wedding out the patches
with their fingers. Nowadays the har-
vesting is dore by what is called plow,
made especially for the purpose. 1t Is
drawn by one mule, and cuts the plants
off close to the roots. AS soon as enough
has accumulated on the pillow to form q
stack it is thrown of and Inaseed around
short pole stuck in the ground. The
stack is formed with the leaves outside,
and the vines are wound around 1t as
tightly as possible, to protect the nuts
from the weather. The plan is somewhat
similar to that OF binding wheat. About
three weeks exposure "seasons' the nuts
and dries the vine, so that the pods are
ready to be picked.
The picking is the most extensive oper-
alton OF all, and takes most time.
Whether in the barn or on the Held. all
Of the work has to be done by hand. The
nuts ale thrown into large baskets, and
the vines made into large stacks or stored
away In the loft, for they make O hay
which is really more nourishing for the
average mule than Timothy. The vine is
little too rough for horse throat, but
1t is a luxury TO the average southern
h0 ,rriII fat N hav
and nothing else. In all fields some OF
the vines will be blackened and the nuts
be q poor quality. These are left on the
ground, and later the pigs are turned
into the field. They eat everything that
Ia left except the roots. The nuts are not
very fattening,. but they give the porker
avery sweet flavor. The famous hams
cured in some parts OF Virginia owe
most of their quality to the fact that the
pigs have lived partly upon nuts before
being turned into smoked meat, and
have not been fed the sour milk and gar
bage from the farmers Kitchen.
or late years quantity of the bag
peanuts have gone to manufacturers OF
cheap coffee, to be roasted and mixed In
with the coffee berry and then ground, to
be sold In packages as choice Mocha ana
Maracaibo.
While most of the American nuts are
grown in eastern Virginia and North
NhTOlluta hnA 4OnACbsCof thC PCohbV hOA0n
are beginning to he cultivated In parts
OF Louisiana and Nebraska. After rails
ing several crops the average peanut
field needs to be heavily fertilized with
lime or mari, as the plant exhausts the
soil.
During fair year the Ameri can pea
nut crop will average nearly 6,00O,00O
bushels, estimating % pounds to the
bushel. This is but a snail proportion
OF the worlds crop, however, which ag-
gregates fully 900, 900 pounds. 1t Is
calculated that we eat about $40. 900. orc
worth Of peanuts yearly, or 74,OOO, eco
bushels OF the nuts, either IN candy or
the original kernels The shucks or shells
form also good food for pigs, while, g
already stated, peanut vines are first
class fodder for mules.
Very few peanuts are eaten out OF the
pod In Europe, although fully 400, 700, 900
pounds are sent to Great Britain and tine
continent every year from Africa and
Asia. They are converted into oil, and
a sort of flour at factories at Marseilies
and several English cities. A bushel OF
the genuine peanuts shelled can te
pressed into about gallon OF oil, which
Is substituted for olive and other tab Q
oils very frequently. 1t sells for from 81
cents to 81 gallon, and the meal or fio' r
left after pressure Is used for feeding
horses and baked into kind of bread
which has a large sale In Germany ard
Ev.av