The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1907-12-11
THE PEANUT SECTION
1t Takes In Portions Of Virginia
and North Carolina.
ENORMOUS CROPS IT GROWS.
Nineteen Counties In the Two States
Produce an Average Of Twelve Mil
lion Bushels a Year-The Way the
Toothsome Goober Grows.

Produce an Average Of Twelve Mil
lion Bushels Year-The Way the
Toothsome coober Grows.
Suffolk. Va, Is the greatest peanut
shipping point In the world. More of
the delicious COOLERS are raised In
Nansemond county, Of which Suffolk
Is the capital than in any other coun.
ty on earth.
If one takes the map and draws
pencil mark around nineteen counties
IN southeastern Virginia ana northeast
ern North Carolina he will 0ut u fence,
so TO speak, around the greatest pea
nut section of the world. Those com
ties are: In Virginia, Nansemond, Nor
folk, Isle Of Wight, southampton, Sus-
sex, Greenyile and Prince George; in
North Carolina, PasquOtank, Perqui'
mans, Gates, ITertford, Chowan, North
ampton, Halifax, EdgecOmbe Martin,
Pitt, Bertle and Washington.
This territory, which is within n ra
dius of 100 miles from Norfolk, pro
duces 100000 bags of peanuts every
year Every bag contains four bush
els. so that 100000 bushels Is the
average annual production. The ship
ping centers Of this belt are suffolk
Norfolk, Petersburg and Smithfield, all
in Virginia Some peanuts are raised
in Tennessee ana California hut the
crop of those states is Il bagatelle rs
compared with the production Of the
Virginia North Carolina territory,
The shelled peanuts are planted
about tile middle Of May by means of
a drill, similar 90 corn drill, which
drops one or two kernels in plnce,
about twelve inches apart, The soil
that raises the best peanuts Is light
sandy loan. II need not he rich. In
fact, n great deal Of Virginia land that
was considered in the anteheIlum days
too poor to raise anything on Is now
producing great quantities of peanuts
Very little cultivation is required
Peanut lands are usually plowed only
once or twice when the plants are
small TO choke out the grass.
The digging time Is October, when
the peanut leaves turn yellow A plow
is run under the peanut vines and
throws up the COOLERS after the fash
ion of digging potatoes in the north.
Poles seven or eight feet tall are stuck
into the ground, and the vines are
shacked around them, with the peanuts
next to the pole, so that the leaves and
vines form protection from the
weather. If the weather be bright and
cloudess While the peanuts are curing
SO much the better. If rain sets in, the
hulls become blackened and midewed.
which lessons the value of the crop
Formerly all peanuts raised were
picked from the vines by hand. Now
machines similar to thrashers separate
fully 70 per cent OF the peanuts from
the vines No machine has been in
vented however that will do this
work perfectly. The tendency of ma
chimes is to crack the hulls. and pea
nuts with cracked huls are likely to
spoil
When the peanuts are separated from
the vines the farmer sacks them and
hauls them to a factory, and his work
ends there. Delivered ut these so
called factories" his nuts bring to 3
cents pound leach bushel containing
twenty-five pounds) for the best grades
and IA cents to cents Il pound for
lower grades. The nuts still have on a
generous coat of dirt.
At the factory" they are dumped
first Into Il drum. where the dit Is re-
moved and a powder is miXed with
them to brighten aud polish thea. y.
the same time two fans separate the
light and shriyeled nuts from the pca-
feet ones. The nuts are then dimped
on slowly revolving tables where ne
gro women and girls conLinue the
process of separating TIE goo. from
the bad.
Wien the nuts are c,c0ne1 al sept
rate they are capcfnllr sacked aal
graded according to quality and are
then sold at AZ TO Gia cents n pound to
jobbcrs all over the country. From the
jobbers they find their way TO street
vendors, candy manufacturers and fac
tories that make peanut butter anu
sailed peanuts Exchange