The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-13
THE PEANUT INDUSTRY
IT REACHES GREAT PRoPoR-
 TONS IN VIRGINIA.
A Valuable and Edible Product Norfolk is the Great Ship
 ping Point.

J. E. Davis in The Southern Workman. The great peanut counties of Virginia
 are the neighboring udewater ones Of
 Surry, Isle of Wight Nansemond and
 Southampton, and these four counties
 probably produce more peanuts than any
 other area of equal size In the world In
 Smithfield, Isle of Wight County-an his
 toric little town remote from the rail-
 wav-is to be found the largest peanut
 factory in existence owned by any one
 company, and the head of the firm, MT.
 P, D, Gwaltney, is known as the 'pea- nut king of the world" The yearly out i put of this establishment averages 350.oOo
 bags of nuts. valued at NI5oooa. They are
 shipped by boat to Norfolk. which Is .hs
 largest market for this product in the
 United States. This country furnishes about 1oo, 900 900 pounds of peanuts yearly,
 which Is one-sixth of the entire crop of
 the world. Small quantities Qf peanuts are raised in a number of other counties of Virginia and the industry has attained considerable importance in North and South Carolina and in East Tennessee.
 The home of the peanut or ground pea
 (also often called pindar and gooberl Is
 believed to be Brazil although it very
 soon spread to Africa, China. Japan and
 India and was recognized as valuable
 agricultural product in these countries
 long before it was cultivated on q large
 scale in It's native soil. which was not un-
 til the year sIS70 In the old world how ever, 1t has always been planted and har- vested for the sake of the oil that it yields; this Is said to rival olive oil in quality and to be used for the same pur-' poses. The nuts raised in the East are far richer in oil than the American varie- ties ..' The most popular of the American pea nuts Is the Virginia running variety" It t. laU rr10 1Ao RA. | semblinR those of the alfalfa but borne on bide-spreading branches which grow fat on the ground. The blossom is bright yellow and is formed &t the end cf a long tube having the ovary at its base. After the flower has fallen its stalk elon- gates and bends downward pushing its way several inches into the ground. Here the ovary larges and develops into the | we'll known pod. The pod and nut of the
 Virginia variety are twice as large as those of the North Carolina or African peanut The Spanish nuts, usually sold only after being sheIled and salted, I
 are still smaller but of excellent flavor. Tennessee has two varieties called the white and the red.
 the kernels of the latter having a dark
 red skin. Smithheld and the country surrounding it may be regarded as typical of the pea 1
 nut section. Here many farms of from 50 to 100 acres are given up to peanut culture. As the American trade demands
 bright-colored shell and the pod takes on the color of the ground In which 1t l grows, the soil necessary for the most marketable nuts Is light, sandy loam. Lime Is an essential ingredient and when lacking Is often supplied by applying l burned oyster shells. The soil must be kept light and friable or the ovary can |
 not bury Itself and develop into pod
 On the SmIthheid farms and others in |
 Eastern Virginia the seed Is put into 1
 the ground early fin May. the kernels | being planted with the skins on; two |
 bushels of nuts in the pod are required | to SOW one acre. The Virginia running | variety is usually planted In rows from two and half to three feet apart, the l plants in the rows having an average |
 distance of 12 to 15 inches. To Insure a | large yield thorough cultivation is neces- | l sary; and by the last of July the fields l
 are covered with delicate green leaves l
 and yellow blossoms. The pods mature by the middle of Oc-
 tober, when the harvesting season be- | gins and continues for about a month |
 Frost Is fatal to both vines and nuts, l
 which must therefore be out of the l ground before there is danger from this | source. special form of blow, having | sword" attached to it, is drawn by | horses along each side of the rows, deep enough to escape the nuts, but cutting |
 off the tap-root. The same day that the l
 blowing is doAe. the vines are tossed |
 with pitchforks over poles seven feet
 high, set in the fields at equal inter-
 vals or else in rows of two or more. | Logs are laid at the bottom of the cen-
 ter pole on either side to keep the nuts off the ground. and the vines are so
 thrown as to put the pods inside, leaving certain space for circulation of air |
 They are usually protected on top py hay
 or corn fodder and sometimes by souares
 or sail cloth. The shocks look like
 huge brown thimbles scattered over the
 neids. The next stage. picking, which
 follows in about two weeks, is most pie
 turesque. It is done by the colored peo-
 pie, often every member of the family
 going to the fields. A baby carriage Is
 no uncommon sight there. Men, women
 and children sit on the ground
 and pick the nuts off the vines,
 often on chilly days forming
 picturesque groups about little
 fires. They throw QUO the "pops" and
 put the good nuts into bags holding five
 or six bushels. For this work they are
 paid 10 cents a bushel. A good picker can |
 make $1 a day. The vines after being
 stripped of nuts make valuable fodder for
 livestock. A peanut field at harvest time
 is a fine study in color. The yellow
 ground dotted with brown shocks
 stretches away to some bit of wood with |
 tall pines etched against the soft blue
 of the Virginia sky. At the edge of the
 strip of woods are sweet gums, scrub
 oaks. dogwoods, and young sassafras sap
 lings in colors shading from the deepest
 red to bright yellow. while In groups scat
 tered over the field are colored people of every hue busily filling their bags as they
 sit about the fires. Here a bright skirt l catches the eye. there red jacket, a big
 straw hat, or a blue-slipped baby tod
 ding about. Sometimes in the busy sea- son the picking continues at night and the fires, shining out here and there in
 the darkness. helghten the picturesque
 enect which is added to also by the
 snatches of weird plantation songs that