Evening star., 1927-04-27
INCREASED PEANUT
ACREAGE EXPECTED
Planters of Coolers Likely to
Reach Record Level This
Year in U. S.
BY }. c. ROYI.E.
Special Dispatch TO The star.


Special Dispatch TO The star.
NEW YORK, April 27.-Between
the war i'm China, the popularity of
package candy and the flooding OF
former cotton lands. peanut produc.
he higher in 1927 than ever before.
Farmers throughout the South are
working peanuts into their systems
of crop diverSification and those
closely connected with the peanut in
dustly predict the yield within five
years will reach 1000, 100000 000
pounds a year.
The Chinese crop always has been
the vet blanket which hung over the
American grower. The coming sea
son it seems doubtful If the growers
in China can take time out to raise
an impressive crop. The peanut al
ways has been a favorite with con-
fectionery manufacturers. but with
growing knowledge Of the dietary
value of the goober among the people
Of the country they have turned to it
more enthusiastically than ever.
VIII Consume Carloads.
One manufacturer of a popular
brand of Scent package candy in
Chicago viii consume over 150.00 car
loads Of peanuts, or approximately
$4,000. 600 pounds, during the next nine
months. There are scores Of candy
makers who win use from 600 900
10 so 600 coo pounds. In addition mil
lions Of pounds of nuts will be roasted
and sold in the shells. while almost
as many will be salted
The yield Of peanut butter and pea
nut oil promises to he larger than
ever before. The refined peanut oil
output probably win exceed 3,000, 900
pounds. 1t is only in the last 10 or
Is years that vegetable oils have
been consumed in the United States
10 any great extent. Now they are
extensively used in manufacture of
margarine or nut butter. which is
consumed in large quantities by
bakers. confectioners and biscuit man
ufacturers, Peanuts also are ground
into flour and the plant itself becomes
valuable animal feed.
The United States consumes about
s8 per cent of the peanuts grown here,
while Canada takes almost all the re-
mainder of the American crop. The
Spanish, African and Chinese crops
also come largely into this market.
Indebted to Spanish.
While the peanut has always beenI
generally regarded as an American
product, in reality the world is in
iebted to the Spanish explorers for |
this valuable food. Peanuts have |
been cultivated here only since the /
middle of the seventeenth century. |
They Were introduced to the South |
by SLAYER plying between the |
African coast and the Virginia plan /
tations who had seen the goober |
pea cultivated in Northern Africa |
by natives. The latter in turn owed |
the peanut to the Spaniards, who I
found it growing in Brazil, to which /
country in reality it is native.
The peanut did not become popu-
lar for many years after its intro
duction and it did not come into COM
mercial importance until after the
Civil War. That struggle served the
purpose of introducing the value of
the peanut as food for the armies. |
The growth of its culture from 1866 |
to 1870 was phenomenal.
The culture fiourished for years, /
but lack of rotation and failure to
replenish the soil resulted in
diminishing profits. However, the /
spread of its use broadened and by /
1909, S69,887 acres were planted to
the vine, resulting in yield of H.
9e4, 109 bushels. BY 1924, 1907 900
acres We're under cultivation and this
has now been still further increased.