80 BULLETIN 1401, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Then the nuts are poured onto a picking table, where women grade 
them and pick the bad kernels from the good by hand. Chinese 
shelled nuts are noted for their uniformity of size. Baskets of the 
good nuts are then inspected and poured into a pile, from which they 
are scooped into bags. Peanuts for export from China are usually 
packed in 100-pound sacks. The customary Chinese unit of 
measure is the picul. 133J^ pounds, and when peanuts are put up 
for sale in China, straw bags holding a picul, which may already 
have been used for rice, are employed. 
Japanese peanuts also are carefully hand picked before bagging 
and are remarkably uniform and attractive in appearance. 
In addition to the Virginia-type peanut, which is exported and 
which is called by the Chinese '"the foreign peanut,''' a considerable 
acreage in China is planted to a smaller variety, closely resembling 
our Spanish-type peanut, which was introduced into the country 
long before the Virginia-type nut. In addition to being eaten 
roasted or raw, it is steamed with salt water and kept in weak brine 
Pig. 40. — Harvesting peanuts in China. The vines have been pulled from the sandy soil, and 
coolies are shoveling over the entire field, screening out every pod not removed with the vines. 
Note the piles of dirt remaining from the screening operations 
until used. Only occasional shipments of these Spanish-type peanuts 
from China have been made to America. For local use the Virginia- 
type peanuts are either roasted or salted, and large quantities are 
crushed for oil. 
CHINESE PEANUT OIL 
Peanut oil is said to be one of the necessities of Chinese life. It 
is used both as a cooking fat and for lighting. At times it is mixed 
with bean oil for lighting. Occasionally it serves as a lubricant. 
\ little modern oil-crushing machinery has been introduced at large 
centers of export, but the bulk of the oil is still obtained by the use 
of crude native presses. Peanut oil is frequently pressed out in the 
interior of China and brought to the shipping port in woven wicker 
baskets lined with many coats of paper, made waterproof by smearing 
with pigs' blood. The size containing 160 pounds of oil is a popular 
one, but many other sizes, both larger and smaller, are used. Figure 
41 shows a large number of baskets of crude peanut oil waiting to 
