Vol. XVII. No. 418. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



137 



the peanut and the.epttoi^ crop will tbisyear be about 

 ■equal in value. 



Special machines have been invented to deal with 



the crop in every stage of its progrea?. The peanuts 

 ■are dug, cleaned, bunched, and placed on the mill by 

 -machinery. : ^ 



A Clever Device to Crack Palm Nuts. 



The West India Committt'e Circular for March 21, 

 1918, draws attention to a recent American invention 

 for cracking the hard shells of palm nuts produced 

 in Mexico and Central America, solely by centrifugal 

 force. The machine is shaped somewhat like a drum, 

 and measures () feet in diameter. Its height, when 

 the top feed and bottom discharge appliances are 

 added, is nearly 7 feet; it weighs approximately 

 •6,000 lb. 



The nuts are conveyed in a steady stream to the 

 iopper at the top, and from the hopper they drop into 

 a fast revolving drum wheel which throws them with 

 great force against a continuous stationary belt of 

 breaker blocks lining the inside surface of the main 

 drum-shaped casting. 



A pressure of about 1,800 lb. is required to crack 

 them, as the nuts have an extremely hard shell, about 

 i-inch thick. The drum wheel turning on a perpen- 

 ■dicuiar set axle is speeded to 800 revolutions per 

 minute, and hurls the nut on a tangent a distance of 

 but 2 feet. This force is sufficient to break the 

 shells into several pieces, and to release the kernels. 

 Deflected by the downward sloping surface of the break- 

 er block, the kernels and hulls drop toward the bottom 

 ot the machine, where they enter a discharge pipe, and 

 are separated from each other by a system ot blowers. 

 The machine has a capacity of dealing with about 10 

 tons of nuts per hour. 



The difficulty experienced heretofore in preparing 

 these nuts for the market has been in the matter 

 of cracking the hard inner shell. In Mexico this 

 ■work is ordinarily done by hand, and is tedious and 

 slow work. This machine solves the problem very 

 advantageously, not only because of the greater speed, 

 but because in cracking the nuts by centrifugal force 

 the kernels for the most part remain whole, and do 

 not lose any of their oil. 



"Wood or Candle-Nut Oil. 



The following memorandum has been received 

 from Mr. A. W. Hill, Assistant Director of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Kew, with referepce to this subject as 

 noticed in the Agricultural A'«"'s, January 26, 1918: — 



'Of the limited number of species of Aleurites as 

 already referred to in the K(-w Bulletin, Aleurites 

 Fordii, Hemsl, is a native of the Central Provinces of 

 China, South-western Province of Yunnan, and north- 

 wards to the borders of Eastern Tibet; A. montana, 

 Wilson, of South-eastern China; A. cordata, K. Br., of 

 Southern .Japan; A.triloha, Forst. (^.moluccana, Wild.) 

 of Polynesia and Malaya — widely distributed in the 

 tropics; A, tris2)erina, VAawco, nat^y^ of the Philippine 

 Islands. 



'It would seem, therefore, that although Aleurites 

 triloba may not be regard^^Lat the present time the 

 most important conimerciaHy.'^r the best in its drying 

 properties, it isclearly a valuable Source of oil, and the 

 best plant of the' series to rely on for cultivation in' 

 tropical countries — warm ■' temperate or subtropical 

 regions being apparently more suited to the other species 

 (excepting A. tri^perma) mentioned above, and perhaps 

 they would succeed on some of the higher elevations of 

 the West Indies. 



"Aleurites trisperiaa might also be tried. Accord- 

 ing to Keiv Bulletin (1908, p. 93), the native names 

 in the Philippines are "Balocanad", ' Baguilumban", 

 "(Jaluniban", and "Balucanag", and "the oil, which i^ 

 regarded as poisonous, is perhaps superior to Chinese 

 Wood-oil in its drying properties." ' , 



A. triloba attains a considerable size, and fruits 

 well in Dominica. Specimens exist iu most of the 

 islands. There is a small plot in Nevis, planted by the 

 late J. S. HoUings, which was in good order when lasb 

 reported on. 



Potato Butter. 



The following recipe appeared in The Times, 

 •January 9, 1918, and seems worthy of attention by 

 housekeepers in these days of short butter supply. 



'The Ministry of Food states that in view of the 

 shortage of butter they have been carrying out experi- 

 ments in order to find suitable and economical ways 

 of ekiug out the available butter and margarine 

 supplies by mixing in other food substances, and so 

 producing cheap and polatable substitutes. These 

 experiments have shown that an excellent "potato 

 butter" costing only about od. per lb. (or less if mar- 

 garine is used) can easily be made in any household 

 without special knowledge or apparatus in accordance 

 with the following recipe: — 



"Peel the potatoes and boil (or steam) until they 

 fall to pieces and become floury. Rub through a fine 

 sieve into a large basin which has been previously 

 warmed. To every 14 oz. of mashed potato add 2 oz. 

 of butter or margarine and one teaspoonful of salt. 

 Stir thoroughly with the back of a wooden spoon until 

 the whole is quite smooth. The butter may then be 

 made up into pounds or half-pounds, and kept in a cool 

 place." 



■ The potato butter may be improved in appear- 

 ance by the addition of a few drops of butter colouring, 

 and if it is to be kept for more than a few days, butter 

 preservative, of which there are several forms on the 

 market, should be used. The amount should be in 

 accordance with the printed instructions on the packet 

 for use in butter. Both the colouring and the preser- 

 vative should be well mixed into the potato at the 

 same time as the butter and salt. If these directions 

 are carefully followed, potato butter will keep for a con- 

 siderable time, though it may be found that the surface 

 is apt to become dry, but this can be obviated by keep- 

 ing it wrapped in grease-proof paper.' 



