Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1920-12-02
kING PEANUT.

NJ 80 title. save the peanut. Fo,
eiaiH ~. associated only with thu
va vendor. but today-a few year:
So ,here IS probably no nut witt
'A', ,i-a variety of uses. Hog:
- cattle grow fat, vast mills turr
-, thousands of tons OF the famous OF
~ commerce, peanut butter has be-
" staple article, and peanuts have
,sco7,e one source Of -four. The
,o-y o, how the little nut helped IL
.sss,r Southern agriculture is story
-, i,self For the last three years, al
very conservative estimate, more
,h,, a million and half acres on an
.re,.ee have been planted to peanuts in
.,;s country every year. Last year,
,oro srproximately SS0,0OO,OO0 worth
:, ,be nuts we're sold from the farms
=, this country. Contrast this with
s7mlOOO worth of the nuts raised in
1900 and SlS,OOO,OOO worth in 1909,
.,d one GETS some idea OF the growth
~ the Industry in this country. More
than three times as many acres are de-
,o,et TO peanuts in this country as
tyenty years ago, and yet the peanut
wss one of the earliest crops to be
grown in America.
lis products now form articles Of
world commerce. The manufacture Of
pesnut oil, which was long confined
10 Europe, is rapidly becoming a
Rourishing industry here. Mpsr peo-
pie especially in the North, do not
know that the peanuts themselves are
a superior hog feed, and in many Sec
tons OF the South the hogs are simply
turned out 10 harvest the crop. The
trailing vines make a good hay for cat
lie. Peanut oil cake, another cattle
feed. is one of the by-products Of the
industry. ts
Did one ever hear Of Dreamed pea
nuts on toast" or Of peanut bread? A
short time ago the United States De-
partment Of Agriculture set out to
discover some of the uses and food
properties of the peanut, and some
eye-openerS have been the result AS
incredible as it may seem, the investi-
gators for the Department OF Agri-
culture, H. S. Bailey and J. A. LeClerc-
found that pound of peanuts fur
nished 200 calories, three times as
much as a pound of beefsteak and five
times as much as a pound of eggs.
In fact, it was aScertained that pound
o. whole peanuts contained half
pound Of fat and fourth OF a pound
OF protein. These scientists became so
enthusiastic over the possibilities of
the peanut that it caused them to char
acterize it as lone Of the most nutri-
tIous foods known to man." A salts
factory bread is made by combining
peanut flour with wheat -four.
In fact, the story of the peanut is one
OF the most romantic stories Of Amer
lean agriculture. 1t now seems to be
generally agreed that the peanut is a
native of tropical America, probably
bFazlI The early American colonists
Drought some with them, planted them,
ana gradually developed the famous
virginia peanut. For years it was the
custom OF practically all plantations
10 nave at least little patch devoted
10 the nut. But for the most part. the
peanut was still a novelty, being plant
60 manly for the sake of the children,
",'1 Is me years went by a few were
Always harvested for the commercial
market tor roasted peanuts. But then
>''N me great peanut revival, or rath-
q extension, bought about by the de-
s.ot'"cht OF proper machinery for har-
''S"nE and handling the crop.
FcanutS got their real start in the
,''"'.' -'e to ravages of the boil weevil
y" me cotton crop. When search
was ...Hg made for crop to substitute
l r cotton, the peanut was hit UPON
., .' can often be grown where
w.. MT he raised to advantage.
ICES well even in the drier
90 the Southwest. Peanuts
.naWn to yield satisfactory
". corn did not yield more
., ''lS to the acre Peanuts
. the advantage of enrichino
me more they are grown
'' lcguminous crop thew
zen.
'"ut Is unique in that il ripens
g.. me ground. In planting it
viz. . necessary to open the furrow
H. low or other implement, drop
, "' IN, and then cover it with
X. '''r or some other implement.
a, us work is largely done by means
,b. nut planters. With these ma.
'.r ne entire pIo,,;.