The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-20
Indianapolis Uses 200 Car
Loads of Peanuts Each Year
Causing Grief Consumers and
Small Dealers. Interes sting Facts About the

spea king OF the boom in peanuts recently.
said:
THE great rise in cotton did ii. The ire
mendous fieures at which many of the
Southerners sold their cotton last fall and
winter made peanut growers and dealers
ambitious to get rich quick. Many dealers
saw that the rise in price was inevitable and
laid in a large supply and if they will just
hold on until they get to the top and then
let go of them they will make pile of
money. / have noticed that ii is tendency
of the dealers who now have a large sup
ply to hold for larger figures. but no advice
to them to hold what they have is needed,
for they will do that all right.
A SOUTHERN CROP.
"You understand" the speaker continued.
that it requires the same kind of soil to
grow peanuts as it does to grow cotton;
consequently 1t is a very easy matter for the
Southern planters to change their crops
from one to the other No doubt when the
majority of them who have this year put in
cotton see that peanuts are demanding such
a price, and in the long run pay about as
well as cotton. they will again change their
crops and try TO meet the demand and get
into the market before the figures become
lower"
Where do the best peanuts come fromg'
the merchant was asked.
1.-The finest peanuts that we get come
from Virginia and are called the Virginia
Spanish. A great many of the planters of
that State have of late years been export
ing hundreds of thousands of bushels of
these peanuts to southern France, chiefly to
Marseilles. In that city the oil is pressed
in large quantities under the Franch labels
of pure olive oil. In fact. it is very diff
cult matter to tell the difference between the
real olive oil and that made from the
Americans grown peanuts. 1t is easy to esti-
mate that large per cent of the Marseiles
oil has not drop of the real olive in 1t. OF
course there is nothing harmful in the pea
nut oil any more than there is from that
made of the olive, but if it were known
that the pure olive oil that is advertised was
made from peanuts the prices would not be
nearly high, for people would not pay
them.
SMALL EXPORT THIS YEAR.
This season." the merchant went on,
there have been comparatively few pea
nuts exported and it is said that the
Marseilles pressers have had to rely chiefly
on the Africa peanut. which is by no means
so desirable product those which come
from Virginia l can safely say that In
dianapolis and other large peanut consum-
ing centers in this country have seriously
felt the effects of the high market for the
domestic peanut. The rise has beer par
ticularly felt by the street vendors. those
who conduct fruit stands and candy stores,
and no one need be the least surprised in
the future when he calls for five-cent bag
OF peanuts to get one with not more than
five or six nuts in it. Many of the street
vendors and fruit stand men have been
seriously considering to quit handling them
while the market is so high"
rs there really such a thing as peanut
butter?''
There is. indeed. In the East, especially
In New York. large number of factories
are given over to the manufacturing of
peanut brittle and peanut butter. Many of
them have had to close down for short
time and all OF them. so / understand, have
been greatly handicapped all this winter by
the speculation in the raw material. This,
of course, shuts these factories entirely out
and they have had nothing TO run on. Some
of them have small supplies left over from
last year and they have been using them
for raw material. Peanut butter will be
much higher than IL ever has been this
spring. Many people are now using il for
lunches just any would use butter
made from milk and 1t is much liked by
those who try it without prejudice
lis there no chance of supply coming
from some other country"
Yes. there is. heard an interesting bit
of news the other day from New York in
connection with the present situation and
one which may in time transform the pea
nut raising of this country. One of the
largest dealers there announced that he
had recently placed an order for 1000 bags,
$500 bushels. of Japanese peanuts. These
nuts are now supposed TO be on their way
10 America. Peanut growing in late years
has become quite an important industry in
some parts OF Japan. and the japanese nut
Is declared by experts TO compare very fav-
orable with the American product, both
in size and flavor"
Wraiths.
/ caught the fragrance OF a hidden rose
A rose never saw. And once l heard