The accompanying summary of the average anal yses of various parts of the peanut plant are of These tables show the peanut kernel, with an average of 29 per cent of protein, 49 per cent of fat, and 14 per cent of carbohydrates in the dry material, to be worthy of a high rank, and it should be classed with such concentrates as soybeans and cotton seed. The vines are superior to timothy hay and but slightly inferior to clover hay. The food value of the hay is of course higher the greater the percentage of nuts left on the vines in har vesting. The hulls also appear to possess consider able value as a feeding stuff, being richer in food constituents (protein, fat and carbohydrates) than cotton hulls, which are extensively used in the South as a coarse fodder, and about equal to the poorer grades of hay. The ground hulls are used to a considerable extent as a coarse fodder in European countries. Peanut meal (the ground resi due from oil extraction) is a valuable feeding stuff, extensively used in foreign countries. It contains about 52 per cent of protein, 8 per cent of fat, and 27 per cent of carbohydrates, and is therefore one of the most concentrated feeding stuffs, ranking with cottonseed meal and linseed meal.
interest as they indicate the value of the several parts of the plant for food purposes. While there is considerable variation in the composition of nuts grown in various parts of the world, we cannot do As a soil renovator.— As a soil renovator, the peanut, like other leguminous plants, is rich in nitrogen and contains considerable amounts of phosphoric acid and potash. The kernels are as rich in these constituents as the kernels of cotton seed and the vines are nearly as valuable as a fertil izer as are those of cowpeas. From the analyses
it will be seen that the hulls are comparatively poor, while the meal or cake is rather rich, being nearly equal to cottonseed meal as a fertilizer: This implies that peanuts can be grown in the Orient and shipped across the Pacific more cheaply than they can be produced at home. The nuts can be produced as successfully in parts of California, however, as in eastern United States, and this con dition may some day be changed.
Importations.
Notwithstanding the magnitude of the crop grown in the United States, a very considerable quantity of peanuts is annually imported. The Atlantic coast ports report an importation of pea nuts during 1904 amounting in value to $65,161, chiefly from Spain, while the Pacific coast ports report for the same year an importation valued at $37,441, chiefly from Japan and China. This gives a total of $152,602 sent abroad for a product which might easily be produced at home. The interesting fact in connection with the peanut supply for various sections of the country is that none of the nuts produced either in the Atlantic or Gulf coast states reach the Pacific coast markets, these markets being supplied almost exclusively from Japan and China.
Literature.
Wm. N. Roper, The Peanut and Its Culture ; B. W. Jones, The Peanut Plant ; R. B. Handy, Pea nuts—Culture and Uses, Farmers' Bulletin No. 25, United States Department of Agriculture ; C. L. Newman, Peanuts, Bulletin No. 84, Arkansas Agri cultural Experiment Station.