12 The Bulletin. 



different parts of the peanut plant, showing the fertilizer constituents 

 in hay (leaves and vines), hulls or shells, roots, and kernels, or nuts. 

 The leaves and vines (or hay), as an average of the analyses given in 

 the table, contain 1.48 per cent nitrogen, 0.38 per cent phosphoric acid 

 and 0.79 per cent potash. Giving these three constituents the same 

 values as are ascribed to them in fertilizers, one ton of the hay (or leaves 

 and vines) would be worth $6.42 as fertilizer. In addition to this value, 

 the humus furnished by the vines would have a value beyond what would 

 be obtained from the same fertilizer constituents in commercial fertili- 

 zers. If the vines were cut at the proper haying stage they would have 

 a higher fertilizer and feeding value, as a great many of the leaves have 

 dropped and some of the plant food been washed out by the rains when 

 left till the nuts are ready to gather. The fertilizer and feeding value 

 of peanut vines are about the same as cowpea hay and the clovers when 

 cut at the proper haying stage. 



Feeding Value of the Nuts. — The feeding value of the peanut was 

 appreciated in its early history by the slave dealers. The spread of the 

 peanut in the United States was caused by its palatableness. The fact 

 that the people in the cities of America consume about seven million 

 bushels of this crop annually as a luxury proves its value as a human 

 food. 



In Table II (given below) are analyses of a number of varieties of 

 nuts or kernels, showing their value for human food, and of peanut-vine 

 hay, showing their value for feed for domestic animals. The nuts are 

 specially high in protein or the lean meat and muscle-forming constit- 

 uents of foods and in oil or fat. 



Peanut oil ranks next to olive oil as a desirable oil for domestic use. 

 "Wherever it can be had at sufficiently reasonable price, it is used instead 

 of olive and other oils and fats for cooking, preparation of salads, etc. 

 On account of the high price of the peanut, the manufacture of peanut 

 oil has not succeeded in this country, though it is made in considerable 

 quantities in foreign countries. "When the oil is pressed from the nuts, 

 peanut cake, which is ground to make peanut meal, is left and is a highly 

 nutritious and valuable food for both human and animal consumption. 

 It is largely used in some countries as a human food. It contains 50 or 

 more per cent of protein, which is the most costly constituent in food 

 and enables it to take largely the place of meat. 



As food for hogs the peanut has no equal. Pork fattened on nuts 

 left in the ground after picking is one of the chief crops of the peanut 

 belt. Hams of hogs fattened on peanuts are noted for their delicate 

 flavor. In a series of experiments made in Alabama, it was found that 

 pigs made more rapid increase on peanuts than on any other ration. 



