62 
BULLETIN 1401, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
(fig. 29) and workers on either side remove the stones and other 
remaining foreign material, moldy, burnt and off-color kernels, and 
imperfectly-blanched nuts to which bits of skin still adhere, while 
the loose, light material or chaff is drawn off by a suction pipe. 
The two varieties of peanuts are mixed in the desired proportion 
before being fed into the hopper of the mill for grinding or crushing 
into butter. In large plants the two varieties are often fed into the 
hopper in a steady stream, in the desired proportion, through chutes 
from the floor above. An automatic salt feeder allows a definite 
proportion of salt to be fed into the mill along with the peanut 
kernels. The crushing is done by a revolving screw, which forces 
along the peanut mass through a pair of ribbed, grinding disks into 
Fig. 29. — Picking table in a peanut-butter plant. Burnt peanuts and foreign matter are removed 
by hand, and light material by suction, before trie peanuts pass to the peanut-butter mill 
a discharge spout. The container for the butter is usually filled 
directly from this spout, although a few plants have separate filling 
machines. The whole operation is illustrated in figure 30. 
The better grades of peanut butter, made from No. 1 Spanish and 
No. 1 Virginias, are usually packed in glass jars holding from 3J^ to 
16 ounces. Occasionally glass jars of as large as 29-ounce capacity 
are used. When the jars are filled, covers are added by a capping- 
machine, under a heavy vacuum pressure, and the glasses are labeled 
(fig. 31). 
Peanut butter is used as a filler in several kinds of candy. One 
popular style has a jacket of molasses or sirup over the butter, sur- 
rounded by a thin coating of chocolate or with a so-called satin finish. 
Long, straw-shaped candies with peanut butter centers are featured, 
especially for children. Sandwiches made of crackers with a peanut- 
butter filling are put up in parchment-paper cartons and have a 
ready sale at delicatessen and other shops; 
