The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1916-09-23
PROSPECTS FOR PEANUT OIL.
Possibilities OF Production Considered
by Government Experts.

dor normal conditions. peanut oil
must be Of higher quality than that
which Is now being produced in this
country. Ordinarily 1t can not com
pete In price with cotton seed oil and
permanent demand for 1t, therefore,
must come from persons who are
willing to pay more for an article
that suits them better.
At the presnt time. 1t Is true, cot
ton seed and all Its products are SO
high that peanut oil can be put on
the market at about the same price as
cotton oil. This has led many mill
owners to consider the advisability Of
making peanut oil and the increased
acreage In peanuts in the South, espe-
ctally In the territory infested with the
boil weevil Is another strong induce
ment for the development of new out
let's for the crop. In recent ,publica-
ton Of the United States Department
Of Agriculture. however,. Farmers bull
letin No. 751 by H. G. Thompson and
r. 9. Bailey, II IL pointed out that
the relative costs Of production are
such thax. except under unusual con-
ditons. higher price must be asked
for peanut oil than for cotton seed oil.
Unless the grade OF the peanut pro-
duct IL raised, therefore. there will be
little inducement for anyone to pur-
chase 1t.
Investigations by the authors of the
bulletin mentir led chow that, inciud-
ing labor ana =, llterest on the in
vestmept. 1t costs the farmer from
$40 TO s25 to produce thirty-five bush
els OF peanuts-the average yield
per acre OF he Spanish variety which
is the one best suited for oil making.
Al o7oscents . bushel this means a rev.
enue from the nuts OF S24,50 an acre
In addition, the hay Ia worth about
40. making $34.5O in all, This mar
lt& Of proft> Is none too large. In
E1Ac$ the investigators state as one
|cf aAsif fccnclusloas that farmers can
not affeHd to srow peanuts for sale
unless they are reasonably sure Of re-
oeivinx atfleast 20 cents a bushsi. r7f
On the other hand, II peanut oil is
to be sold in comp}tition with cotton
sed oil. even under the present un-
usual conditions. the mill man can not
pay more than ~ !. cents and, az Ahs
prices which hsSs' iprevailod Ia, q
~ not MONA tp p9y th1 ,sIi
I'm N sllnA1lsh peanuts
49, 3S!d 1lh5 dId yIJld. under
feafefpl treatment 30 gallons OF oil and
7So pounds OF meal The meal prob
ably can be disposed OF Dor s11.26; the
oil at so cents gallon Is worth s4s.
This 1eayes the mill man $3.50 a ton,
out Of which he must meet his manu-
featuring and selling charges and take
his profit. As cotton seed oil fire.
Quently sells for about AS cents GAL
Ion. II IL obvious that ordinarily tho
two oils can not compete on the basis
of price. Another matter which must
be considered is that by the methods
In use many mills are obtaining q
yield Of only 6S gallons of oil from a
ton Of peanuts. With such a yield and
with the oil at so cents a gallon, q
considerable loss may be expected.
| A high-grade peanut oil has quail
ties which. for certain purposes. such
as for salad dressing and for cooking,
cause It to be preferred by some to
the cotton product. In Europe there
is considerable demand for the edi-
BILE peanut oils. and II Ia to a great
extent. only the inferior grades that
are imported into this country. where
they are used chiefly In the manu-
facture Of oleomargarine. The pea
nut oil imported during the year end
ing June 80. 1914. was valued at 81
cents per gallon. A small part Of this
was high grade edible oil, which prob
ably sold for a considerable higher
price than the average for all of the
oil imported. II high-grade Ameri-
can oil is placed on the market at a
little lower price than that command
Cd by the best Of the imported oils it
Is possible that steady demand for
ft might be built up which would BE-
fQntts independent of the cost of cot
ton seed oil.
| In this connection 1t is pointed out
that In tho production of high-grade
edible peanut oil, the peanuts must
be thoroughly cleaned, shelled
branched and degermed. In the ordi-
nary cotton seed mill this will require
the installation of additional machin-