The National Peanut Butter Manufacturers' Association, formed in 1922, is the trade association of the industry. Its chief objects are to increase the consumption of peanut butter and to standardize its quality. The association has adopted the following standards:

Fancy peanut butter is made from none other than clean, sweet No. 1 peanuts, properly picked,with hearts and all foreign matter removed. Standard peanut butter is made from nothing less than clean, sweet No. 2 peanuts, properly picked, with hearts and foreign matter removed.

PEANUT CANDY

Peanut candies of various kinds furnish an outlet for shelled peanuts that is hardly less important than that supplied by salters and peanut-butter manufacturers. Both Spanish and Virginia type peanuts are used for candies. No. 2 grades are in heavy demand for the

FIG. 32.-Rolling out peanut candy, preparatory to cutting it up into 5-cent bars. The iron "rails" at the sides of the table keep the candy to a uniform thickness

cheaper types of candy, such as peanut squares and peanut bars retailing for a cent, and for some of the 5-cent bars. No. 1 grade nuts are used for the 5 and 10 cent bars, as well as for peanut brittle and other candies. Virginia type peanuts of No. 1 or extra large grade are used as a substitute for almonds in chocolate bars. They are in considerable demand for making sugar-coated peanuts. Shelled Runners are sometimes substituted for shelled Virginias in the cheaper grades of candy.

PEANUT BARS

The following formula is sometimes used commercially in making candy for peanut bars: Five pounds glucose, 6 pounds sugar, 25 pounds blanched Virginia-type peanuts, and enough water to dissolve the sugar. When the sirup of sugar and water comes to a boil, 10

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pounds of peanuts are added to the pan and the mixture cooked to 265° F. or until it breaks crisply, which will take about 15 minutes. The pan is then removed from the fire and the remainder of the peanuts stirred in. When thoroughly mixed the candy is poured onto the "cooler"a metal slab which has had a coating of sugar to keep the candy from sticking-and rolled out. Steel bars of the thickness desired-about 11⁄2 inches high for 5-cent bars-at either side of the table keep the sticky mass from running over and provide a base along which a heavy roller is run (fig. 32) to give the candy a uniform thickness, much as the housewife rolls out dough. As peanut bars are sold by count rather than by weight it is important that they be cut to a definite size. The cutter (fig. 33) consists of a hand roller with sharp metal disks strung along it at definite intervals. A

FIG. 33.-Cutting peanut candy into 5-cent bars. As the candy hardens quickly, the cutting must immediately follow the rolling to a uniform thickness seen in Figure 32

typical 5-cent bar will measure 33% by 23% inches. Some manufacturers pack 30 bars in a paraffine-lined cardboard box, weighing about 4 pounds; others pack 24 bars together. The smaller, penny bars are packed 100 or 120 in a box. Figure 34 shows peanut bars being packed in 4-pound boxes.

PEANUT BRITTLE

Proportionately more sirup is needed when peanut brittle is prepared. One manufacturer uses the following formula: Twelve pounds glucose, 18 pounds white sugar, 2 pounds brown sugar, 16 pounds No. 1 raw Spanish peanuts, 2 ounces salt, 3 ounces bicarbonate of soda. The glucose and sugar are placed in a pan with enough water to dissolve the sugar. When the sirup boils, the peanuts are added and the mixture cooked to 290° F. A longer time is required in cooking brittle, as the peanuts have had no previous

heating. All peanut candy must be stirred continually when on the fire to prevent sticking. The exact time to stop the cooking is determined by dipping a spoonful of the mixture into cold water. If the brittle is done, it will harden at once. After it is removed from the fire, the salt is added and stirred in well. The soda is then added and the mixture stirred thoroughly. When the batch has risen, it is poured onto a marble slab. Brittle is not rolled out, but is spread with a spatula to a rather uniform thickness, and cut while still warm. The exact thickness is not important, as peanut brittle is sold by weight, in cartons lined with paraffined paper and holding one-half pound, 5 pounds, 10 pounds, or sometimes 25 pounds of the candy.

SUGAR-COATED PEANUTS

The preparation of "sugar-coated peanuts" is an industry of increasing importance in some cities. These are often made in small

FIG. 34.-Packing peanut candy in cardboard boxes lined with paraffined paper. These are the bars that were rolled and cut in Figures 32 and 33

"candy kitchens" with inadequate equipment, but when prepared commercially large revolving pans, with steam coils on the outside (fig. 35), are employed. Extra large shelled Virginia-type peanuts, fully roasted and blanched, are turned for three hours in the pan, while small quantities of a sirup made half of glucose and half of sugar are poured in at intervals. The sirup is taken on by the peanuts, and the rubbing of the kernels against each other as they revolve gives them the desired roughened appearance. A little coloring matter is often included in the last sirup mixture. They are then slightly gummed with gum arabic and allowed to stand over night, when they are returned to the pan and a thin coating of lac is applied. When dry they are packed in small cardboard packages, retailing for 5 cents, or they may be sold in bulk. Sugar-coated peanuts are called "burnt peanuts" by the trade.

Candy manufacturers are constantly finding new uses for peanuts, and new kinds of peanut candy are frequently offered for sale. One of the more recent developments in the candy industry is a peanut bar, in which the center, consisting of either nougat or a heavy cream dipped in caramel, is covered with roasted shelled Virginia peanuts and then dipped in rich chocolate. Each bar is then wrapped in glassine paper, and 24 bars are packed in a carton.

BAKERY PRODUCTS

In a few cities a considerable and increasing volume of shelled Virginia and Spanish-type peanuts is absorbed by large bakeries and makers of confections. Peanut cookies and peanut jumbles, packed

FIG. 35.-Making "sugar-coated peanuts," known as "burnt peanuts" by the trade. Note the steam coils around the outside of the revolving pans

in parchment paper and tightly sealed in small cardboard boxes or cartons, are sold in all parts of the country, at groceries and general stores. Confections of the pop corn and peanut type, in small cardboard cartons, are widely popular, and are to be seen on fruit stands and grocers' shelves generally. Finally, granulated Virginiatype peanuts are sprinkled on the top of German coffee cake and other bakery products.

PEANUT OIL

Before the World War comparatively little American peanut oil was produced, but during the war, the tremendous demand for vegetable oils to supply glycerin for munitions purposes and to meet the growing call for margarines and lard substitutes, served as a powerful stimulus to increased crushing. By 1918 a production of 95,934,000 pounds of peanut oil was reached 25 and imports were heavy.

25 Bailey, H. S. and B. E. Reuter. The production and conservation of fats and oils in the United States, U. S. Dept. Agr. Bul. 769 (sup.), p. 1. 1919.

The year following, production had fallen slightly to 87,606,844 pounds 26 but net imports for the fiscal year 1919-20 had increased to 165,390,713 pounds. This was the peak of the movement. During the 1921-22 season, shipment reports from freight agents at crushing points indicate that only 25,500,000 pounds of domestic crude peanut oil were shipped, and the total for the two following seasons was less than 5,000,000 pounds. In the fiscal year 1922-23, net imports of peanut oil had jumped to 7,500,000 pounds from 2,650,000 the year before; and net imports for the fiscal year 1923-24 totaled over 10,000,000 pounds, adding materially to the domestic supply.

OIL MILLS

Many peanut mills in the Southeastern and Southwestern States are equipped with both shelling and crushing machinery, and handle their purchases of farmers' goods in accordance with the variety and grade of the nuts and the trend of the market. During the fall of 1921, for example, the relationship between the prices of farmers' goods, shelled peanuts, and peanut oil, was such that the bulk of the Runner crop and a large amount of Spanish peanuts were crushed for oil. The two years following, however, both farmers' goods and shelled stock were selling higher in proportion to the price of oil, and it was profitable to crush, in addition to table pickings and screenings, only such farmers' goods as were not suitable for shelling. As little additional machinery is needed to enable a cotton-oil mill to operate on peanuts, many mills in the Cotton Belt crush peanuts when they are not busy with cottonseed and peanuts are available.

Plants which do not sell shelled goods, but crush exclusively, have no need for elaborate cleaning machinery. Running the peanuts through a sand reel, shaker, and stoner before they pass into the huller, is considered enough. But often the peanuts pass over a magnet just before going into the machine that crushes them to draw out pieces of iron.

PRESSES

Both hydraulic (fig. 36) and expeller types of presses are employed in crushing peanuts. For details of the processes of operation of these presses see United States Department of Agriculture Bulletin 1096.27

Few mills in the South now crush unshelled peanuts. Not only is the oil produced of a lower grade than when shelled peanuts are used, but the shells absorb oil, which adds nothing to the fertilizing value of the meal. The cost of cleaning and shelling is more than taken care of by the increased value of the oil obtained from the shelled peanuts.

HANDLING CRUDE PEANUT OIL

As it comes from the press, the dark yellow crude peanut oil contains some fine meal, which is either filtered out or allowed to settle out before the oil can be called prime crude. Crushing mills are usually located beside railroad tracks, so that the oil can be pumped directly into tank cars. Large buyers usually furnish tank cars for transporting the oil they purchase. Eight thousand

O United States Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. Animal and vegetable fats and oils. Production, consumption, imports, exports and stocks 1919 to 1923. p. 4. 1924. Reed, J. B. By-products from crushing peanuts. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bul. 1096, 12 pp., illus. 1922.