New-York tribune., 1921-05-15
DozCn Where the Peanut Bufter Gyoze,s


! AI STARTS growing down in Viz
| ginia, and Mr.. Ellithorp, the treas
urer OF the company, is the man who
follows through, even into the
ground, to make sure that the pea
nuts that go into the butter are Just
as good as the hogs that go into tine
bacon. Mr.. Ellithorp has boys
clubs down in Virginia growing
eighty-six bushels of peanuts to
the acre when the state average is
twenty seven. Intensive cultivation
/ end attention is the answer. One
little fifteen-year-old has taken the
first prize for five years running.
Mr.. Ellithorp was with difficulty d.
verted from this human side of the
peanut butter question, but finally,
reluctantly, consented to show and
tell what happens next.
Two varieties Of peanuts, both
grown in Virginia, are blended
two pounds of the little, light Span
ish nut, with its 45 per cent of oil, to
one pound of the larger dark, well
| favored but less rich relation native
to Virginia, with 35 per cent OF fat.
You can get good, second-grade
nuts, broken ones, etc, for about
half the price paid for the first
grade material that goes into this
product. why not said |, ssirce
they must be broken, anyway? Why
not use the second grade?" "No,"
came the answer, they aren't as
good. Why did they break? What
happens after they are broken? The
skin protects them. You never get
+, something just as good for half
the money. If you want quality
product in the end you must start
out with the best"
AS you come In from the roof
there they are-in 125-pound bags,
all over the top foor-peanuts
enough to supply several circuses.
But they go down TO the roaster, to
twelve Of them, in fact, and there
they go round and round over the
gas flame for about an hour at 400
degrees temperature. There is,
however, great north light espe-
/ cially arranged to permit accurate
inspection Of their color and condi-
ton. The roasters feed them di-
rectIy into great screened trays on
wheels, which are rolled back again
! when loaded to where draft of
| air cools them quickly. For it is
| just as essential to quality for the
nuts to be quickly cooled as it is for
the bacon. When cool they drop
to the floor below, where another set
Of machines takes them in hand for
skinnsng and degerrninating.
The only thing about the place
with bad heart is the peanut. 1t
was rather shock to find out what
/ a very bitter heart this sweet little
nut has. At the same time that the
nut loses it's red skin the heart is
removed and down the chute go the
purified nuts to run ever moving
screen and bs sifted further by a
draft and sharp-eyed girls--two to
each machine.
From here the cleaned, perfect,
roasted nuts drop into the ma
chine that crushes them into the
peanut butter that you know---salt
and nuts are fed in together In the
right proportion and the butter
oozes out into the glass jars held
under the nozzle, as the picture
shows.
It was interesting TO see the girls'
faces light up as they took their
places at the filling machine. "Yes,
it's harder work thar unpacking
glasses or eapping, but it's more fun
to keep up with it--gives you some
thing to think about" said bright,
snappy woman, one Of the older en-
ployees. And every nine minutes
there is an sali hands round A new
girl takes the milking stool, and