PEANUT 



4541 



PEANUT 



rainfall. Two or three of the kernels, with un- 

 broken skins, are planted together one or two 

 inches deep, in hills from sixteen to twenty 

 inches apart and in rows about three feet apart. 

 The earth is finely pulverized for a depth of 

 four or five inches. Above ground the plant puts 

 forth a thick, hairy stem with many branches. 

 The flowers, which are small and yellow and in 

 shape resemble those of the garden pea, grow 

 Mii^ly on the vine. After they wither their 

 stems grow longer and turn downward, forcing 

 their way into the soil. There the familiar pale- 

 vrllow pods are developed. 



The nuts ripen in October and are harvested 

 before the first frosts appear. First the earth 

 around the plants is loosened, and the vines are 

 pulled up and turned over to dry in the sun 

 for a day. They are then put in the shocks and 



HO\v TS GROW 



so kept from three to six weeks, aft, r \\lu.-li 

 the pods are pi< made ready i< 



ment. About two biwhels of un*h< 1I*<1 nuts 

 will plant an acre, and under good conditions 

 the yield is over forty bushels to the acre. The 

 vines bear, on an average, about 100 pods each. 



nuts are marketed they are scoured 

 in large, metal cylinders, which free them from 



pieces of dirt and stems, and are then passed 

 through blast fans, in which powerful air cur- 

 rente weed out the imperfect nuts from the 

 sound ones. Candy manufacturers make use of 

 dark and imperfect kernels, so these are not 

 wasted. 



Uses. Peanut kernels, roasted and salted, are 

 everywhere popular, but are usually eaten as a 

 confection rather than as a part of the regular 



Car 



COMPOSITION OF PEANUTS 

 As a heat producer the peanut ranks very high ; 

 It has a fuel value of 2,560 calories per pound. 

 The fuel value of peas Is but 1.650 calories per 

 pound; beans, equal to peas; and potatoes, l.tOO 

 calories per pound. 



diet. They are, however, extremely nutritious, 

 having a high percentage of fat, of carbohy- 

 drates and of protein (see accompanying chart). 

 The fuel value, too, is high 2,560 calories (see 

 CALORIE) to the pound. There is some question 

 concerning the digestibility of the peanut, but 

 it is generally agreed that it is more readily 

 assimilated if eaten with other foods. Large 

 quantities of peanuts arc used in making candy. 



Important manufactured products are peanut 

 oil and peanut butter. The oil is used as a salad 

 dressing, for packing fish and in the manufac- 

 ture of oleomargarine, and low grades (yielded 

 by third and fourth pressings) are utilized as 

 machinery oil and employed in soap manufac- 

 ture. The French use peanut oil as a base for 

 th-ir famous Castile soap. The residue from 

 the various pressings, when moistened and 

 baked, forms a cake which is a valued fertiliser 

 and cattle food. A fine meal ground from pea- 

 nuts is said to be excellent for muffins when 

 mixed half and half with corn DMtL It IS also 

 a suitable stock food. Peanut hay is widely 

 used as food for hogs. 



Production in America. Tho accompanying 

 chart shows the average annual yield of six 

 leading states for five years previous to 1915. 

 Since 1915 the acreage in all of the peanut- 

 growing states, esp< xas and Oklahoma, 

 has shown marked increase, and the country's 



