74 BULLETIN 1401, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Peanut meal is now sold chiefly to manufacturers of stock feeds. 
When the price was cheaper it was used to a considerable extent as a 
fertilizer. 
Both as a stock feed and as a fertilizer, peanut meal is considered 
to have more value than cottonseed meal; but farmers in the South 
have not generally recognized this fact. One of the factors limiting 
the growth of the peanut-oil industry in the United States a few 
years ago was the difficulty experienced by mills in disposing of their 
peanut cake and meal. Frequently during the early years of the 
peanut-oil industry, an increased demand for these products on the 
part of the Southern farmer would hare reduced the supplies in the 
hands of the mills and raised the price the plants were willing to 
pay the grower for his peanuts. 
The past two or three years have witnessed a greatly increased 
interest in peanut meal on the part of manufacturers of stock feeds 
in this country. As the stocks of domestic meal were gradually 
cut down by the small amount of crushing being done, it became 
necessary to get goods from abroad to supply the demand, and in 
1924 over 4,000,000 pounds of peanut meal were brought to America 
from China, France, and England. Further imports may be expected 
whenever the demand exceeds domestic production. 
Fig. 38.— Loading a car with slabs of peanut cake 
For feeding purposes peanut meal is usually sold on the basis of 
45 or 46 per cent protein content, although some manufacturers sell 
on the basis of 41 or 43 per cent protein. A meal containing 48 to 
51 per cent protein can be obtained by grinding pressed No. 1 Spanish 
peanut kernels alone; but, commercially, enough hulls are left with 
the kernels to reduce the protein content of the meal to 45 or 46 per 
cent and sometimes to a smaller proportion. Meal made from No. 3 
Virginias will not average over 41 per cent protein content. 
Peanut meal can be fed to cattle in small quantities after milking 
without fear of giving the milk any peculiar flavor. As hog feed, 
peanut meal is superior to whole peanuts, because it does not cause 
soft pork. The addition of peanut meal to poultry feed stimulates 
egg-laying and aids in bringing chickens rapidly to marketable size. 
As peanut meal is highly concentrated, it should be mixed with other 
