The Wonder Book of Knowledge: The Marvels of Modern Industry and Invention, the Interesting Stories of Common Things, the Mysterious Processes of Nature Simply Explained
History
The Wonder Book of Knowledge: The Marvels of Modern Industry and Invention, the Interesting Stories of Common Things, the Mysterious Processes of Nature Simply Explained
Industrial arts -- History
Peanuts are really the seeds or pods of a plant belonging to the family
called the earthnut in Great Britain, the nuts there being used chiefly
to fatten swine. The peanut-stand so commonly seen on street corners
here is kept well supplied by the extensive cultivation of peanuts in
the United States, mainly in the South, and in several tropical
countries.
As most people have discovered, the nuts have a much more agreeable
taste after being roasted. They also yield an oil which is often used
for olive oil, and very good “peanut butter” is now made by grinding
them up and mixing them with oil.
The peanut plant, or groundnut as it is also called, has a hairy stem
and the leaves usually grow in sets of two pairs each, on the extreme
end of each little branch-stem. The pod or nut is situated at the end of
a separate stalk, which is longer than the leaf-stems, this stalk having
the peculiarity, after flowering, of bending down and pushing the fruit
into the earth. After the peanuts have reached their full growth, they
are dug up very much in the same way as potatoes, a machine potato
digger now being extensively used for this purpose.
[Illustration: MACHINE POTATO DIGGER DIGGING PEANUTS]
[Illustration: PICKING PEANUTS BY HAND]
How did Your State Get Its Name?
Alabama is named after the Indian word which means “Here we rest;”
Alaska comes from the Eskimo word “Alakshak” or “Alayeska” and means
“The main land;” Arizona is the result of the Indian word “Arizonac,”
meaning “small springs” or “few springs;” and Arkansas is sort of a
mixture of the Indian “Kansas,” which means “smoky water,” and the
French prefix “arc,” meaning “bow” or “bend.”
California comes from the Spanish words “Caliente Fornalla,” or “hot
furnace;” Colorado, also from the Spanish “colored,” from the red color
of the Colorado River; and Connecticut, in Indian, means “long river.”
Delaware was named after Lord De la Warr; Florida originated from the
Spanish “Pascua de Flores,” which means “Feast of Flowers,” because it
was discovered on Easter Day; Georgia was called after King George II of
England; and Hawaii is a native name peculiar to the natives there,
although Captain Cook called it part of the “Sandwich Islands” after
Lord Sandwich.
Idaho is Indian, meaning “Gem of the Mountains;” Illinois is another
mixture of Indian and French, the Indian word “illini” and the French
suffix “ois” meaning “tribe of men;” and Indiana and Iowa are both plain
Indian, the former standing for “Indians’ land,” and the latter,
“beautiful land.”
Kansas and Kentucky are Indian, too, Kansas meaning “smoky water” and
Kentucky “at the head of the river,” or “the dark and bloody ground;”
and Louisiana is named after Louis XIV of France.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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