MARKETING PEANUTS 
81 
be carried, on the backs of mules by two-wheeled carts, or on bamboo 
poles placed on the shoulders of coolies, to the port of export or to 
a collection center. During the period of heavy movement to the 
United States a large volume of peanut oil left the country in ship's 
ballast and other tanks. Small shipments are usually exported in 
second-hand kerosene cans. Two cans of 37 }4 pounds each are 
shipped in a case. The oil-cake residue is used both for fertilizer 
and for feeding to domestic animals. 
The local Chinese demand for peanut oil is most accommodating 
in nature. The course of world prices, rather than the actual shortage 
or oversupply of oil and oil materials in China, is said to govern the 
attitude of the trade. If prices elsewhere are perceptibly higher 
than they are in China, exchange, tariff rates, and other things 
considered, peanuts and peanut oil are exported and the Chinese 
Fig. 41. — Peanut oil in native wicker, paper-lined baskets, s 
in interior of China 
uung snipme] 
turn to other oils or other food products as substitutes. On the 
other hand, if prices abroad are not favorable to export, the Chinese 
population uses practically all the peanut oil that can be had. Nor- 
mally, at least half the Chinese peanut crop is available for export, 
either as peanuts or as peanut oil. 
IMPORTANCE OF JAPANESE TRADERS IN ORIENTAL PEANUT MARKETING 
The yield in Japan, where rather exact statistics of production are 
maintained, has ranged between 60,000,000 and 30,000,000 pounds 
during the past six years. The acreage planted to peanuts in Japan 
has decreased steadily during recent years, as many farmers are 
inclined to plant their land to other crops which promise a greater 
profit. About 80 per cent of the crop is grown in prefectures in the 
immediate vicinity of the city of Tokyo. Exports leave Japan 
chiefly from the port of Kobe. 
75379°~26f 6 
