Volume XVI
Number 28
December 11
1948
THE STATE
A Weekly Survey of North Carolina
Entered as *econd-cla*s matter, Juno 1. 1033, at the Postoffice at Ruleleh, North Carolina, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
The Story ot the Peanut
In flie first place, it isn't a nut: it's a
vegetable. There» are many oilier in¬
teresting facts in connection with this
product which has become of great im¬
portance in many ways.
WE never thought to see the
day when boll weevils would
bring good to the South; but
as boll weevils blitzed eastward
from Texas with their ruinous ef¬
fect on the cotton yield they per¬
suaded us to raise peanuts — that
was good. In fact, in Enterprise.
Alabama, peanut growing proved
such a bonanza that the townsmen
voted $3,000 for the erection of a
monument. It was dedicated to the
boll weevil in profound apprecia¬
tion for what it did as a herald of
prosperity.
Peanuts, yes; but who said nuts?
They’re a vegetable, bless their
peculiar little pods! "Peas." "goo¬
bers," "ground nuts,” “monkey
nuts." "ground peas." they are all
peanuts and still not nuts.
The plant, which is small and
compact, closely resembles a gar¬
den pea. It has pretty yellow blos¬
soms which grow on long stems.
The base of the blossom swells, the
blossom drops
ЫТ
and the long
stem droops, forming what is com¬
monly called a "peg," or "needle."
The drooping peg thrusts
its enlarged head into the
ground like a frightened
ostrich and a pod forms.
There, entirely separate
from the roots of the
plant, the pod grows into
a peanut.
If a peanut could pop
out of a sack and write
the history of his fore¬
fathers he would have an
interesting story. He is
one of the few Virginians
who does not lay claim to
transport on the first
ship to put into James¬
town — this fellow ad-
By ji.m j i:\ki\s. jr.
mils he worked his way across on
slave ships as food for the human
cargoes.
The Start in Carolina
Upon arrival in Virginia the
peanut settled down until the Civil
War. During the war he became
friends with many North Caro¬
linians who slept beside him in
peanut fields and came to know
him as solid food. When the war
ended these men took the peanut
home with them.
Around the turn of the twentieth
century the peanut branched out
again, this time in the company of
one Arch - Deacon Thompson,
whose destination was China.
Along with his Bible the Arch-
Deacon had four quarts of peanuts.
En route, he ran into Dr. Charles
Mills of the American Presbyterian
Mission, and gave him half his pea¬
nuts. Dr. Mills was bound for
Shantung Peninsula where upon
arrival, he gave two farmers a
quart each to plant. The farmers
promised to increase their crops
each year for three years but one
of them, who no doubt speculated
with true Chinese finesse that "a
nut in the hand was worth two on
the bush." promptly ate his. The
other one — well, about thirty
years later Shantung grew 18.000,-
000 bushels.
By this time peanut production
was spreading in the United States
to most of the States where there
is a season of from 100 to 140 days
without frost, a moderate rainfall,
plenty of sunshine, and a relative¬
ly high temperature.
Unlike many commodities of
commerce there is no wastage from
the time peanuts are planted until
their final function. They are not
just pulled out of the ground like
carrots and sold. To give you an
idea of some seemingly double-talk
involved in merely loosening the
soil for digging, here is what one
expert has to say: "pea¬
nuts can be loosened
from the soil by means
of a one-horse turning
plow with a wing re¬
moved, with a single
stock to which is at¬
tached a peanut point, or
with a half scraper and
scooter." If a Brooklyn
lad tried that outburst
on his buddies he would
be considered strictly
hep on the jargon, but to
a farmer it is as every¬
day as his high shoes.
Peanuts that are torn
l Con fin tied on page 17)
THE STATE. December 11. 1948
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