The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 1911. THE PEANUT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 93, 9 June 1911, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 1911. THE PEANUT.

o So far as New Zealand is concerned at the present time, the peanut is not of much commercial value; in fact, the small boy with his penny is the chief purchaser. However, Americans see something more profitable in its cultivation. According to Air. W. A. Taylor, of the United States Bureau of Riant industry, it is an important farm crop, and he expresses the opinion that it will become a valuable asset in the Southern States. Air. Taylor says no doubt the cult of vegetarianism has created a demand for the peanut, but that demand would hardly justify extensive cultivation. As a matter of fact its value rests on its by-products. Commercially, the oil of tne peanut belongs to the same class as cottonseed and olive oils. 'Peanuts arc now being grown through out the districts where the boll-weevil exterminated tiie cotton plantations, and it is believed that those crops will assist in keeping the oil mills of the Southern' States supplied with raw materials. The manufacture of peanut but'terus already an extensive industry, and tlie demand tor it in the manufacture of various kinds of food-pro-ducts is increasing. As a forage product it pays the farmer well, and at the same time the plant is worth a pound an acre to him as a fertiliser. It seems that the roots are covered with nodules formed by bacteria which collect nitrogen. The crop is harvested by a machine which collects the vines and severs the roots just below where the peas are formed, thus leaving the valuable nitrogen deposits behind. The crop is stacked, and when well cured the pods are picked 'off by hand, though machinery can lie profitably employed. The thin brown Covering' of the peas has a feeding value almost equal to that of wheat bran, it lias also been found to make excellent bedding for stock. .So much lor the commercial value of the humble peanut. Seeing that it : will grow over an area embracing lulls’ ball of the 1 uitod States, its future i certainly presents interesting possi- j bib tics, it occurs to us that if the < peanut is capable of being converted ] into so mans - profitable uses as arc 1 set Imta by Air. Taylor, there are lo- | eahties in Now Zealand that might be • utilised in its cultivation. At pres- f nt wo are not aware of the climatic c

t*onc!itions required, but the .Dominion :s particular! y fortunate in having, in ::r) . 1 .' 10 y-u’t or another, a climate that "••I t-Tow almost anything under the s ■ 0 1 1 , il the proper mctliods are adopted. THE FACTORIES ACT. ’i'he Shops and Offices Act and the factories Act, like the first Licensing Act, take a lot of understanding, and it a recent case heard at Auckland rcsidts in a finding' lor tjie Inspector oi 1 ( actoi ies, then it is difficult to say on what grounds the next prosecution will conic. In the Auckland case action was taken against T. W. Kwai lor not having closed his shop at 1

p.m. on the weekly hiilf-holiclay. The tacts ol the case were that defendant keeps a restaurant, which is entitled (o he open on the half-holiday .or the convenience of persons wantini': n meal. The Inspector of Factories contended that as cigarettes were sold on the same premises it became a shop, and had to he closed the same as any other shop. Mr. Skelton, for defendant, said that the main husiues'i oi the establishment was a restaurant. He a reined that, because half-a-sovereign’s woi th of cigarettes was kept on the promises for the convenience of .customers, it was absurd to say that a restaurant must close on the weekly half-holiday. Mr. Kettle, S.M., said that the point raised was one o( considerable importance, and he would, therefore, take time to consider his decision. THE HOUSE OF LORDS’ PROBLEM. ( mint Mitts, the famous Russian | statesman, contributes to the “Daily I'd ‘seraph” an article on the 11 moo o; lands’ problem, “Pei sonallv.” lie says, “I am a Conservative. and as such i sympathise with the House of ; 1 ado-iio its; brilliant history.

r-r] 1 f .,] t M no; y for LM mi. Mk'l c immkted. Foi, :sr. I am :: hinf.a .111 d, the Coper Chamber managed to I.ura its lingers in raid water. . . . Fven at that lata hour, if ! aai tightly informed, the House of Lords might have emerged from the ordeal, if pot unscathed, at least rejuvenated. if, during the Conform’d?, they had acquiesced in the reform scheme widen they are to-day willing to accept, all might have been well, lint they set theii fares against it, acting as is the wont of all Conservative Governments and monarehs. They would fain stem the current of events, and repeat the miracle of Joshua in the valley of Ajalon. Now their resistance would have seemed wise to some, and reasonable to many, if Success were visible at the end of it, or if the changes aimed at hy the Radicals were to he accomplished hy revolutionary means. But neither hypothesis tallied with facts.”