MESOPOTAMIAN PEANUTS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 278, 20 August 1919, Page 2

MESOPOTAMIAN PEANUTS

On a little plot of ground, not raoro than one-tenth of an acre, at Fellujailv, .somo 3-S miles west of Bagdad, British experimenters, just a year ago, sowed a small crop of peanuts; since then the peanuts have conio up, and the. British experiment has proved the possibility, of a new agricultural industry in Mesopotamia. In the past, one of tho surprising conditions of Mesopotamian agriculture has been the scarcity of oil seeds, for whereas in other countries oil seeds aro valuable crops, Mesopotamia grew only a .little sesamun, or "sim-sim," and a small quantity of "Bazr-el-ICittan" or linseed. Peanub, or groundnuts as, they are there called, wero imported in large quantity from India, for the Mc-sopotam-isvns aro fond of peanuts, either parched or used in making An enthusiastic horn* market is therefore ready and waiting for tho peanut grower, and the local merchants who 'have passed judgment or. the peanuts grown in the Fellujah Gardens are highly pleased with them. Thes? were new peanuts to tho Mesopotamian, being-the variety known as tho Small Japanese and selected because they grow quickly and arc easy to cultivate. Now that they have been so successfully grown \n Fellujah, demonstration plots ore to be established as vapidly as possible in various parts of the country, and it is believed that tho Mesopotamians will beforo so very long bo raising all tho peanuts they can eat, with a profitable superabundance for export.