Evening star., 1905-10-23
PEANUT CROP HARVEST
HOW THE YIELD is HANDLED AT
SUFFOLK, VA.

Peanuts are harvested this month. and
Virginia is the largest market in the world
for home grown nuts. When # is remem-
bered that Americans consume annually
more than six million bushels of peanuts
grown in this and other southern states, at
a cost of more than S14,O0oOO0 1t is not to
be wondered that a short crop has caused
the producers to demand a high price
In suitable soil the peanut will grow in
any latitude where Indian corn will thrive
but good crop depends entirely on the cli-
mate-conditions which are found on the
Atlantic seaboard from New Jersey south
ward, in the Mississippi valley as far north
as Wisconsin and on the Pacific coast south
to the Columbia river In the Virginia
peanut section-and 1t is very extensive
one-it has been found that where the land
is properly prepared there is little to be
done in the way OF cultivati ton after the
seeds are placed in the ground
Annual Race With Jack Frost
1t is always nip and tuck race with Jack
Frost to get the crop harvested before he
shows his work, for a biting frost injures
the nut and lessents the value of the vines
for forage purposes. PIoughs are made for
harvesting the crop. The plough is long
and keen and goes deep into the soil thus
preventing the bruising of the nuts AS the
ploughman loosens the vines from their
peds laborers with pitchforks follow him
and remove the vines from the earth shake
on the loose soil and pile the vines with
their roots laden with nuts in great piles
iHese workers are followed by Others
. VINO take the nut-laden vines and shock
tnem around seven-foot poles. When the
shock is finished it is capped to keen ont
the rain, and the shock is left undisturbed
untii ready for the pickers. who are gem
efaly women and children and ara maid
so much per bushel The pickinp of the
nuts is slow and tedious work and one Of
the largest items of expense to the grower
oolne planters have invested in threshing
machlnes but nuts picked this way are NOT
as marketable as the hand-picked the ma
chine cracking and breaking the hulls.
Nuts Brought in as Gathered.
In former years most planters had the
nuts cleaned before sending to market bp,
since the establishing OF peanut factories
the nuts are brought in just as thev are
picked from the vines. The factories which
are IN 1act recleaners and graders buy the
output or the planters as farmers stock
anu arter a treatment of cleaning polish-
ing ana sorting by both hand and machin-
cry, the nut is ready for the consumer
The factories are four-storv huildinos
put the machinery is neither costly nor
complicated, consisting of fans, brushes
aat puash9rs. 1 siI.ers and separators. AS the
great ioaos OF nuts are brought to the fac
tory they are sacked and carried to the ton
moor py elevators, where the nuts are
dumped into large hoppers Then thew
pass into large cylinders on the next floor
where they are cleaned by attrition fans
taxing out the dust they pass around
the cylinders From this floor the nuts
pass to the second floor where they 90
through fans which blow out and separate
the lightweights, and the others pass on to
tables on endless movable belts.
Work for Hundreds.
At these tables the hundreds of negro
women and children pick out the discolored
and faulty nuts and allow the better ones
to pass on into a grader, which grades the
nuts as to size. Through all this machinery
the nuts have been polished until they come
out looking as clean and polished as a nesrI
In this condition they are placed in chutes
running to the lower floor, where they are
sacked in burlap bags which have been
stenciiled with the names Of the several
brands, and are ready to be shipped to the
cities throughout the country
Every year the crop is becoming more
valuable. and, while almost all Americans
are peanut eaters. great inroads are being
made on the crop by it's utilization for
other purposes. Millions of bushels are now
being used in the Old World for the pro-
duction of OIL which IL regarded as fully
equal to olive oil. The meal or cake after
the oil has been pressed out is an excellent
food for cattle.
At least 100000 may be added to the
value of the peanut crop direct bene-
fit to the farmer. who turns his hogs into
the fields as soon as the crop Is harvested.
The nuts left in the ground furnish suffi-
cient food for almost the entire winter The
razorbacks get down to business when they
are hungry. and with their long snouts
turn up the ground finding the nuts where
they had been pulled from the roots OF the
vines The vines are carefully saved and
cured, making excellent forage for all
kinds of live stock.