Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-15
States
Importance of Great Peanut Crop of Southern States


and then stepped on and the kernels
ground into the floor I noticed that
they left large grease spots and this
made me think of grinding the nuts
into oil and oil cake. using our own
mill for the purpose. 1 then looked
into the matter and found that uea-
nut oil was used largely in Europe
and in other parts of the world. l also
found that hulling machines could be
made very cheaply, and I had some
made for me. 1 went far enough to
see that the oil could be successfully
produced. I then interested other cot
tonseed oil men, and finally induced
the Fidelity Oil Company here to put
in machinery. agreeing to furnish the
peanuts. I sent them 5000 tons the first
year. and they were handled at a good
profit. Since then the business has
steadily grown. The machinery has
been improved, and we have a large
peanut oil industry in Texas. I UNDER
stand that many other mills are now
in existence throughout the south. and
that many more more will be crushing
peanuts this year"
So much for the peanuts of Texas. I
have heard similar stories as to how
a like industry has grown up through
the cottonseed oil mills of other states.
The whole business seems to be the
natural outgrowth of the use of cot
tonseed as ,by-product, and the same
mills everywhere will within a short
time be handling both crops.
But come with me to the big oil mill
of Houston and see how the nuts are
turned into Oil and other products.
The mill covers several acres. 1t con-
sists of large buildings of galvanized
iron. filled with machinery. AS We
come near 1t we pass wagons brin ging
the peanuts IN from the country. They
are carried in bags of about two
bushels each and are sold IN the shells.
The bags are emptied into great bins.
which contain thousands OF bushels.
and the nuts are taken by conveyors on
an endless belt to the top story. where
they pass through the cleaning and
grading machines.
They roll over long tables of steel
with holes just large enough for the
peanuts to drop through, SO that the
pieces of vine and dirt are carried
away. The next process is hullins.
This is done by rollers SO graduated
that they break the shell of the pea
nut without injuring the kernel. The
kernels fall out upon tables which
separate the split or broken nuts from
those which are whole. The shells are
the chaT from a threshing machine.
two endless belts OF canvas, on each
side of which stand long rows of col
ored women who pick out any dirt or
shells that may have escaped in tho
clearing and hulling. At the ends Of
the belts the nuts fall into the bags in
which they are kept until they go to
tho crushing and pressing machines.
Now stop and look at the peanuts as
they come in from the farms. They are
l. ter yn5st -n16 hsN
county fairs and the circus. or hawked
about on the streets. The best nuts
for roasting are the Virginia red or
the Jumbo. which sometimes contain
several kernels in one pod. The nuts
used here are little one or two podded
nuts. which. when hulled, have kernels
about the size and share of a marrow
fat pea. Their shells are thinner than
those of the Virginia nut. They are
smaller. but they contain SO much moro
oil that they weigh about the same.
When h,ilied, they are of a light pink
ish color. and in the bags they look
like large peas or navy beans. They
are now about the same as the little
round peanuts sold in the slot ma
chimes Many of the whole nuts ara
sold for this purpose, and for making
kind or other.
And now a word or so about the soy
bean. This plant, which has been cul-
tivated for ages in China. Japan and
Korea, came into notice at the time
of the Russo-Japanese war. Europe
and America then began to realize its
value as a foodstut- and soil improver.
and it is now being planted all over
the south, especially in the boil weevl
districts. Soy beans are of many va
rieties. They will grow almost any
where, and they are fast becoming
great money crop. Last year the seed
was sold ct less than So bushel. It
is now worth IS or Sc a bushel. and
there is practically no surplus in the
market.
FRANK C. CARPENTER