PEANUT

or Earth Nut, or Goober, or Groundnut, or Ground-pea, or Monkey nut, or Pinder. The plant which produces the fruit generally known as the Peanut in this country, and as the Groundnut in Hurope, is one of a cla which bury their pods in the earth to ripen instead of raising them into the air (see the color-page facing 582). In order to effect this, the flower-stalk, holding the very young pod, gradually curves downward after the flower has pa ed away and finally forces its point perpendicularly into the soil. When it has penetrated to a sufficient depth, the pod begins to swell, and when ripe becomes the oblong, rugged, pale brown fruit, usually containing two seeds, so well known to consumers. As the peanut is enclosed in a pod of pea-style and its flesh is nut-like in composition and flavor, its popularly evolved title has much to commend it. From twenty-five to thirty million bushels of peanuts are annually raised in the United States, and another huge aggregate total in Africa, Spain, China, Japan, and Java. From its original home—probably tropical America—it has spread to every tropical and sub-tropical country. A considerable proportion of the American crop is converted into peanut butter. and peanut oil. <A large quantity is consumed also in the form of peanut candy, and there is a growing market for peanut meal and various other products. The few million pounds of the crop annually exported are more than offset by importations from Japan, China, and other parts of the Orient. The hundreds of millions of pounds sent to Europe every vear from Africa and Asia are chiefly converted into oils and flour in factories at Marseilles, France—and in le er quantities at other points on the Continent and in England. The commiercial history of the peanut in this country commences with the Civil War. Before that time, only a few garden plants were grown in Virginia and the Carol in as for family use—almost as curiosities. During the war, soldiers discovered that the ‘‘nuts’? made excellent food, and the result was that in the years succeeding the end of hostilities the acreage a igned to them steadily increased, until to-day their cultivation covers nearly one and a half million aeres. Alabama, North Carolina, and Virginia produce more than half of the present total crop, but every year sees greater attention devoted to it in other states, especially in Texas, Georgia, and Florida. The best known types of American peanuts are Virginia runner, Virginia bunch, ‘«Spanish,’’ Valencia, and ‘‘African’’ (or North Carolina). The terms ‘‘runner”’ and ‘‘bunch’’—applicable also to other than Virginia strains —refer to the manner of plant growth. The types which ‘‘bunch’’—i.e., which incline to an upright rather than a ‘‘runner,’’ or along-the-ground, vine-growth and which therefore group their fruits—are generally preferred by planters because they can be seeded more closely and are more easily cultivated and harvested. The Spanish and Valencia are ‘‘quick’’ crops. The African and Virginia require a longer season for development. The Spanish and Valencia and African are very rich in oil and mild in flavor. The first two are small-seeded; the African has seeds of medium size. The Virginias are large seeded, of smaller oil percentage, and of more pronounced flavor. Peanuts retailed in their shells, roasted or otherwise, are chiefly large Virginias. The shelled salted nuts are principally smaller Virginias, Spanish, Valencias, and Africans, but there is also an increasing quantity of the ‘‘extra large’’ Virginias shelled and salted for fancy packing—the nuts roasted, skinned, and kept whole, presenting a very attractive and appetizing appearance. ‘‘Jumbo’’ peanuts are especially large specimens picked out by hand as they pa along the inspection belts. As American trade demands a bright-looking shell, and the pod is affected by the eolor and mineral constituents of the ground in which it grows, the soil most desirable is a light, sandy loam. Lime is an e ential ingredient, and the soil must be kept loose or the ovary cannot bury itself and develop its pod. The general practise among American growers is to ‘‘bank’’ the rows to some extent at the last cultivation in order to provide an easily reached bed to receive the pod and facilitate its maximum development. With harvest time comes a three-fold consideration for the modern planter. Most important is of course a maximum crop of peanuts in the best marketable condition. But additional desiderata are a method of cropping which leaves in the soil as much as po ible of the root system (for peanut roots are rich in nitrogen-growing bacteria), and care for the condition—in cutting and curing—of the upper part of the plant, for the entire vine after the removal! of the nuts is utilized as cattle-food and ranks as about equal to clover hay. After digging, the vines (with the peanuts still attached) are laid on the ground for a short time to dry out their surface moisture. They are then stacked to cure in small, sloping stacks—the peanuts in the center in order to prevent their discoloration by rain. Next come the ‘‘picking’’ of the peanuts from the vines (generally by machinery), cleaning, and grading—with a final polishing for the best whole-pod product. For Peanut Burrer, Peanut Meat anp Frovr, and Peanut Om, all of which are treated separately, the grading is succeeded by shelling, roasting, blanching (remoying the skins and germs), ete. There is full use for all the by-products of peanut factories. The shells are generally burned as fuel and their ashes returned to the soil as fertilizer. They are also ¢round into a meal which is employed in large quantities by steel mills as a: mets! polish. The germs and the thin inside coverings of the nuts are consumed as cattle and poultry food PEANUT OIL, if of the best grade—i.e., obtained by the cold pre ing of sound peanuts, and well filtered—is a sweet, brilliant, and delectable product, nearly colorle , and serviceable alike for table use, cooking, and preserving. Le er grades—from old and otherwise undesirable peanuts—can be made acceptable by refining and bleaching, but they lack character and delicacy. Large quantities are consumed (both separate and blended) as salad oil and in Nut-surrer (which see). In Franee, it is extensively used also in the packing of the cheaper qualities of sardines and numerous other food products. The industrial grades are employed in the making of fine silks because it does not readily turn rancid, and as a lubricant for fine machinery because it does not ‘‘gum.’’ The domestic output is supplemented by millions of gallons of imported—chiefly from Japan and China. _ A bushel of selected, shelled nuts will yield about a gallon of good-quality oil and an additional supply of an inferior product.