Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-05

acre neanut farm in Virginia, North caro-
lima, Tennessee and other OF the s0 9isatn
is far in the lead both as to quantity anu
quality. The finest peanut grown Is the
"bunch" variety, but the virginia Iu
ming is the most widely known ana mos
popular with the trade, anu may The mods
are large and white and Will Welgn apou.
twenty-two pounds to the bushei. IN poliie
Of flavor, size and hardness or nun, THESE
are the finest peanuts raised, ana .ne !.
iacts' from these are known to the trade
as the Jumbo
Different Varieties.
Tennessee produces the white ana reo'
and both are excellent nuts, but not as
large as the Virginia raised. North caro-
lima has what Is known as the AFRICAN va
riety. small and full Of oil. but pleasant 10
the taste. Botanists have placed the nome
of the peanut in Africa, but some autnorl-
ties give 1t as a native OF Brazil. Louisi-
ana fnds the Spanish-a small but prollnc
n1It-best suited to that climate, and large
Quantities are grown. The 'goober grad
bers'' of Georgia and South Carolina ike
the small white and red peanut, the same
as grown in Tennessee, eno each succ .5s
ing wear shows an increase In production.
It has been successfully demonstrated that
on suitable soil the peanut Will gro" III
any latitude where Indian corn WIN thrlVe'
but good crop depends enurely on tne
mate-conditions which are found on the
Atlantic seaboard from New Jersey south
ward. in the Mississippi valley as far north
as southern Wisconsin, and on the racine
coast south of the Columbia river.
In the Virginia peanut section, ana II Is
q very extensive one, 1t has been found that
where the land is properly prepared. pull
verified and made porous, ana 1ree from
grass and weeds, there Is little to be done
in the way Of cultivation after the seed Is
niaced in the ground. Most planters have
adopted the drill" or ridge" system,
which renders cultivation easy with ploWs
made for the purpose, ana requiring very
little use for the hoe; 1t IS always "a. ga MP MP
crop harvested before he gets IN his work,
for a biting frost Injuries the nuts and less
ems the value Of the vines FOR Forage pur-
poses Peanut farmers have plows made
especially for harvesting the crop. The
nlow Is long and keen and goes deep into
the sofl. thus preventing the bruising and
cutting of the nuts.
Harvesting the Crop.
As the plowmen loosen the vines from
their beds. laborers with pitchforks follow
and remove the vines from the earth, shake
off the loose soil and pile the vines with
their roots laden with nuts in great stacks.
These pftchfork workers are followed by
others In a few hours who take the nut
laden vines and shock them around seven
foot poles, care being taken to Keep the
vines off the ground by placing plaa ak
around the pole When the shock Is I'm
tshed 1t is capped with fodder or hay to
keep out the rain, and then the shock ie
left undisturbed until ready Tor the PICK
ers" generally women and ch1ldren, VINO
are paid so much per bushel for picking the
nuts from the vines. The picking OF the
nuts furnishes a great deal OF work TOT
the colored people.
It is slow and tedious work, and one of
To IA
Some peanut planters do not shock their
crops, but store in barns and lofts, and
utilize rainy days for picking the nuts.
Other farmers have invested in peanut
threshing machines, but the nuts gathered
in this way are not as marketable as the
hand-picked the machinery not doing its
work so we'll, cracking and breaking the
bulls of the nuts. In former years nearly
all planters had their nuts cleaned before
sending to market, but since the establish
ing of the peanut factories the nuts are
brought in just as they are picked from
the vines. The factories, or what are in
fact recleaners and graders. buy the output
of the planters as farmers stock, and after
a treatment of cleaning. polishing and sort
ing by both hand and machinery, the nut
is ready for the consumer.
In Big Factory.
Owing to the construction of the machin-
cry 1t is necessary for the factories to be
four-story buildings, but the machinery Is
neither costly nor complicated, consisting Of
fans, brushes. polishers, sifters and separa-
tors. AS the great loads Of nuts are
brought to the factory by the planters the
sacks are carried by elevators to the top
or fourth floor, where the nuts are dumped
into large hoppers passing into large cylin-
ders on the next floor. where they are
cleaned by attrftion, fans taking out the
dust as they pass In and around the cylin-
ders From this floor the nuts pass to the
second floor. where they go through fans