PEANUTS. The plant which produces the fruit popularly known as the peanut in this country, and as the groundnut in Europe, is one of a class which bury their pods in the earth, where they ripen, instead of raising them into the free air. In order to effect this, the flower-stalk, after the flower, along with the very young pod, has passed away, gradually curves downward, and at length forces its end perpendicularly into the soil. Having buried itself sufficiently deep, the pod then begins to swell, and when ripe becomes the oblong, rugged, pale brown fruit, usually containing two seeds, so well known in the markets of this country.
The peanut is now found in a state of cultivation all over the hottest part of the tropics. It was unknown in the Old World until the discovery of America, though now it is very generally grown in the United States, India, the West India Islands, and in different parts of Africa. For the purposes of commerce it is principally raised on the west coast of Africa, in different quar ters, from Senegal to Sierra Leone and the Gambia. Marseilles, in France, is the chief port to which they are shipped, though in limited quantities they find their way to this country, principally as an article of food. Commencing with an export in 1837 of 671 tons, valued at $40,040, the average annual shipment of pea nuts from the Gambia between 1850 and 1860 was 11,196 tons, In some years, as in 1871, the total export reached nearly 17,000 tons, the bulk of which was sent to France. Owing to disturb ances, the quantity exported from the Gambia fell off somewhat in 1872, the shipments being 13,000 tons, valued at $700,000, the. trade employing 15,000 tons of shipping from Bathurst. It was a French house at Marseilles that first thought of introducing this substitute for olive oil. The experiment commenced with a few hundredweight of peanuts, and now the imports into France ex teed 5.5,000 tons of an oilseed unknown to commerce forty years previously.
The native African ruts unfortunately introduced of late years the pernicious system of beating or threshing, instead of picking by hand, whereby the nuts are mixed with leaves, stalks, stones, and other substances, causing large deductions in both the French and American markets. Hand shelled nuts are largely used for eating, and by confectioners, both in Europe and in this country, but those machine-shelled are only fit for oil-crushing and cattle feeding purposes. The oil-cake of the nuts, when pure, is highly esteemed for its fattening properties, horses, cattle, pigs and poultry being very fond of the peanut in its natural state. A heaped imperial bushel of the nuts weighs from twenty-five to thirty-two pounds. Divested of their shell, the kernels furnish as much as forty-five to fifty per cent. of oil. Besides the great value of its seeds for oil, this plant is also a good fodder herb, since it is very productive and yields a quick return. A light, somewhat calcareous soil is best fitted for its growth. On such
soils fifty bushels may be obtained to the acre, though in some parts of the United States the yield is from eighty to one hundred and twenty bushels an acre. In tropical countries half a ton weight of seeds or nuts is obtained per acre.
Peanut oil is used for alimentary purposes, for the adulteration of olive oil, and for cloth-dressing, though its chief use in Europe is for the manufacture of soap and for lubricating machinery. As a lamp-oil it burns longer than olive oil, although its illuminating power is less. Compared with ordinary burning oils, its power is feeble, and it will hardly be able to hold its own against the rapidly-increasing use of kerosene oil in the Old World. It has the advantage, however, over other vegetable oils, of keeping a long time without becoming rancid. In Europe it is usually found that a bushel of peanuts produces one gallon of oil when expressed cold, while if heat be applied, a larger quantity is obtained, but of inferior quality. In Brazil the seeds are parched for food, while the oil is used for cooking, medicinally for rheumatic affections, and for lighting. The roasted seeds are sometimes used as a sub stitute for chocolate, since they abound in starch as well as oil and a large proportion of albuminous matter. Economists urge the more extended use of peanut meal as an important article of food. Dr. Muter gives the following analysis of this meal : Moisture, 9.6 per cent.; fatty matter, 1L8 ; nitrogenous compounds or flesh formers,. 31 9 ; sugar and starch, 37.8 ; fibre, 4.3 ; and ash, 4.6 per cent. From this analysis it is claimed that the residue from them, even after the expression of the oil, far exceeds that of peas, and is even richer than lentils in flesh-forming constituents, while it contains more fat and more phosphoric acid than either of them. Although in the raw state it a. somewhat harsh odor, this flavor entirely passes off in cooking. This seed is held in great estimation for eating in the United States, as the flour ishing sale-stands at the street-corners indicate. Nansemond and Isle of Wight counties, in old Virginia, bear off the palm for raising the finest peanuts in the Union, their flavor, size and qual ity being far superior to all others. The crop-year begins about October 1st and ends in the following September. Fully 550,000 bushels are annually sold in the city of New York alone. Previ ous to 1860 the product in this country did not amount to more than 150,000 bushels, nearly five-sixths of which were grown in North Carolina, dependence be'ng mainly on the imported supply, but now the home crops nearly supply the demand. It was esti mated in 1870 that Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and Carolina, together sent over 1,000,000 bushels to market, of which one fourth went to New York. American-grown nuts command far higher prices per bushel than those imported from Africa.