Evening star., 1921-05-29
Rise of the Peanut.

one often speaks Of the rapid Sc
~ 10 fame and popularity OF the ba-
mana and tomato. but The pace these
fair things have set is eQualled by
the peanuts rise to eminence. Once.
il was a little side crop which few
farmers planted and which few
lowly men and churlish lads crack
ed and crunched when they went 10
the one-ring circus or sat in the gall
cry TO hear Edwin Forrest act the
Gladiator or even so lately as to hear
John Mccullough as Eirginius or as
Othello the jealous, swathering moor
OF Venice. No polished gentleman
could be seen or heard or smelled eat
ing a peanut any more than he could
afford to walk through the black and
white marble tiled lobby OF the Fifth
Avenue Hotel putting on a clay pipe.
AS late as 1870 the peanut had no
commercial standing so Tar as gov
ernment crop and commercial recoras
go. Now all is changed The bu-
reau of crop estimates OF the Depart
ment of Agriculture and certain bu-
reaus of the Department of Commerce
treat it with consideration and dig.
nifty. Nearly two million acres or
American land. much OF this being the
sacred soil of old Virginia. arc plant
f, ed annually in peanuts and the yieio
varies between thirty and fifty mill
lions bushels. In 1918 the yield was
! 1855. 900 bushels and in 1919 an OF
year for peanuts the yield fell to
SO. 600, 900 bushels. The crop for this
! year cannot now be estimated, but II
| is believed that the peanut will con-
! tinue to grow and prosper.
Americans are eating peanuts in
number of ways. They eat peanuts
straight. peanuts in many forms OF
/ candy. salted peanuts on the tables
peanut oil. and peanut meal or hour.
| And all the possibilities of the peanut
have not yet been realized by the
public.
American farmers are not supplying
| the American demand for peanuts.
Shelled peanuts by millions of pounds
and peanut oil by millions of gallons
\ come from China and Japan posses
sions in the Asiatic continent, and
Japan grows peanuts for export and
Kobe. and Osaka, Japan. and Shang-
hal. China, are perhaps as great pea
nut marts as our own city OF Peters-
burg. in SNirgini;a; India raises pea, ;s.
The European. taste lis turning TO
peanuts md pesnut products just as
the American taste has turned al
| iIedQy. One OK Tie HdTISS lOT lIc pea
nut is "earth-nut" and another ie
ground nut" There are many wild
varieties Of this plant. some in Amer
| ica. some in Europe and some in Asia
and Africa Out of these have been
developed many domestic varieties.
some large. some small and some
much richer in oil than others. The
Encyclopedias Britannica has this on
the nut:
"Earth-nut. the English name for a
| t,,Io L. hnf
dium denudatum. member OF the
natural order of umbelliferae, which
has a brown tube-like root-stock the
size of chesnut. 1t grows in woods
smooth stem two to three feet high,
much divided leaves. and small white
/ flowers in many-rayed terminal
compound umbels. Boswell Syme in
English Botany says: The com:
mon names of this plant in England
are numerous. tits known as earth
nut. pig-nut. tar-nut kipper-nut.
hawk-nut jar-nut earth-chestnut. and
ground nut. Though really excellent
in taste and unobjectional as food. it
! pigs and children. both of whom ap-
! preciate it and seek eagerly for it
DIR. whitening describes the roots as
little inferior to chesnuts. In Hol-
Europe they are more generally eaten
| In the Cabinet Encyclopedia and
Treasury of knowledge is this:
"Ground-nut. a term which denotes
the seeds or pods Of the Arachis hy-
| pogoea, or the tubers Of certain UNI
! bellifers. It is a leguminous annual
! Of diffuse habit, with hairy stem and
abruptly pinnate leaflets. The nut or
pod is situated at the end Of a stalk
! of some length. and is ripened under
ground, this stalk having the pecu-
liarIty after towering Of bending
down and pushing the fruit into the
! earth. The plant is extensively culti-
| waited in tropical countries. The nuts
have a flavor similar to almonds and
yield an oil that may be used for
olive oil"