The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-10

frost injures the nut and lessens the / value of the vine for forage purposes. Peanut farmers have blows made espe- cially for harvesting the crop. The blow is long and keen and goes deep into the soil thus preventing the bruising and cutting of the nuts 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 place the vines with their roots laden with nuts in great piles.
 These pitchfork 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 plank and wood around the poles. When the shock is finished it Is capped with fodder or hay to keep out the rain, and then the shock is left undisturbed until ready for the ''pickers' generally women and chill dren. who are paid so much per bushel for picking the nuts from the vines. The picking of the nuts furnished great deal of work for the colored people, and Christmas money for them comes largely from this source.
 Handling in Factories
 Owing to the construction of the ma cihnery it is necessary for the factories to be four-story buildings, but the machinery is neither costly nor complicated consist ing of fans. brushes, polishers, sifters and separators. As the great loads of nuts are brought to the factory by ,he planters the sacks are carried by eeva- tors to the top or fourth floor, where the
 nuts are dumped into hoppers, passing into large cylinders on the next floor. where they are cleaned by attriton. fans
 taking out the dust as they pass in and around the cylinders. From this floor the nuts pass to the second floor, where [. Il. separate the light weights and the others pass on to tables In the form of endless movable belts, at which tables tre hun dreds of women and children pick out the discolored and faulty nuts and allow the better ones to pass into grader which grades the nuts as to size. Through all this machinery the nuts have been poi ished until they come out looking as 1 smooth as a pearl. In this condition they
 are placed in chutes running to the lower 1 floor, where they are sacked in burlap bags which have been stencled with the
 names of the several brands, and they are ready to be shipped to the cities through out the country.
 Peanuts by Carload
 l So heavy are the shipments from this | point that sidetracks have been placed l by the railroads to the factory and 1t is l not an infrequent thing for more than a
 dozen cars obe shipped in single day l A car of peanuts Is worth from $500 to | S140O according to the grade of nut | They are shipped both in the hull and | shelled, and are graded just as wheat, | corn or rye
 Every year the crop Is becoming more valuable, and while almost all Americans
 are peanut fiends, 1t is evident that the | time Is coming when great inroads will be
 made on the output of their favorite nut 1 by its utilization for other purposes Mill
 lions of bushels are now being annually
 used in the old world for the production l of oil. an oil which is regarded as fully | equal to olive oil. and which may be cm- ployed for every purpose to which that is 1 applied The peanut oil has an agreeable taste and is more limpid than olive oil
 Already the manufacturers of peanut oil
 in this country, and especially in Tennes- | see. have announced that the only draw | back to the oil mills is an insufficient | supply of nuts. Much of the peanut oil
 is now sold under the brand of olive oil
 but the pure food law will break this up During the years 1S61-1S65 peanut oil was largely manufactured in the southern
 states and was used as lubricant for To- comotives. for machinery in cotton mills and the housewives were glad to get t tc take the place of lard. The meal or cake
 after the oil was pressed out was used as food and was found healthy and palata ble. It made an excellent nutritious | bread, soup. griddle cakes, and took The | place of flour. This meal or cake is als an excellent food for cattle, and would perhaps be more valuable for this purpost
 than as a diet for humans