Notes. 5 



The Market Oversea for Ground-nuts. 



Among the ao-ricultiiral indiistries of the Union that have in 

 recent years progressed to a stage where local consumption cannot 

 cope with the supply is the growing of ground-nuts (peanuts or 

 monkey-nuts), and producers to-day are engaged in Avays and means 

 for the disposal of their crop. In this connection reference was made 

 in the February, 1922, issue of the Journal to tlie scope offered by 

 the European market for the sale of the South African product and 

 of the large quantities of ground-nuts imported into hhirope every 

 year. Since then matters have progressed, railway rates have been 

 reduced, and the value of the industry has come prominently before 

 the community. The question of exjjort is of paramount importance, 

 and an oversea trade has yet to be begun. We are only in the 

 experimental and pioneer days of a possible large industry, and of 

 our first efforts to gauge the value of our product mention must be 

 made of two sample bags of shelled and unshelled " Virginian 

 Bunch " ground-nuts forwarded by the Naboomspruit Farmers' Asso- 

 ciation to the Trade Commissioner, London. A poition of these 

 samples was sent to the Hull Oil Manufacturing Company, 

 Limited, Hull, who made a very careful test of it, and their report, 

 recently received, is most favourable. They state that the sample 

 of decorticated nuts is an exceedingly fine one, and superior to any- 

 thing that has yet been placed before them, being considered indeed 

 superior to first-grade Chinese ground-nuts used only for edible and 

 confectionery purposes. Tested as to oil content, the decorticated 

 sample gave 46. OG per cent., with the free fatty acid in the oil at 

 0.24 per cent., it being tlie opinion of the company that the oil 

 extracted was of a very high quality, and that though it would not 

 fetch a higher price on the open marJcet than the ordinary oil of 

 commerce as made from the dry Indian decorticated nuts, or the 

 West African undecorticated and decorticated, it would, on account 

 of its lowness in free fatty acid, sell more readily. The oil test gave 

 1 per cent, more than Indian dry decorticated or the Nigerian 

 decorticated, and the value, therefore, of the South African sample 

 for oil crushing or extraction purposes was placed at from 5s. to 

 7s. per ton more than Indian ground-nut kernels, which at that time 

 were fetching £24 per ton c.i.f. United Kingdom ports in bags. 



The sample of undecorticated nuts was also reported to be exceed- 

 ingly fine in appearance. The oil test showed 32.93 per cent., and 

 the free fatty acid in the oil about normal, namely 0.46 per cent. 

 The oil test showing 2 per cent, lower than West African undecorti- 

 cated, it was estimated that the value of the South African article 

 would be about 14s. to 15s. lower than that of the Gambia or Hefisque 

 ground-nuts which were then fetching about £18 per ton to the 

 United Kingdom and rather more to Continental ports. 



Commenting further on the samples sent to them, the company 

 expressed the opinion that these ground-nuts were of such a high 

 quality that they would readily be bought by the confectionery and 

 fruit trade, and for this purpose would realize higher prices than for 

 crushing or extraction. In China, it may be mentioned, the practice 

 is to hand-pick the ground-nuts, reserving the better ones for the 

 confectionery trade, and selling the remainder as second-grade to 

 local mills for crushing. 



