20 OH THE USE 0F THE POTATO* 



are boiled, or only ground in an apple mill, and the juieg 

 suffered slowly to drain from them before they are dried. 

 It might seem therefore at iirst view, that the boiling might 



feat advantage- be omitted ; my trials however have shown me, that the co- 

 lour of the flour is much fairer when boiled, and the taste 

 more pleasant; and that the expense of boiling in steam is 

 very little. With the greatest care even some of the starch 

 {the most nutritive part of the root) will separate with the 

 juice; above three pounds of fine starch (weighed after 

 it was dried) passed off with the water from lOOlbs. of po- 

 tatoes. 



" Other persons will, I trust, ascertain such facts with 

 more accuracy r I myself hope soon to ascertain more satis- 

 factory particulars. In the mean time permit me to make 

 an estimate of the probable produce of an acre of potatoes 

 in quantity, when reduced to the state of flour. 



Quantity of " The average produce of an acre managed with care, 



a^e'ofpma" estimatecl at ab ««t eighty sacks of 240lbs. each. 



toes. " According to my experiments (as before) lOOlbs. of 



washed potatoes will produce 25lbs. of dry flour ; or each 

 sack 60lbs. ; or one acre, two tons and upwards. 



" I am not qualified at present to carry these calculations 

 farther — if quantity alone be the question, I need not. 



" Note. The potatoes used in the foregoing trials were 

 the red apple potato. 



Peking. " The steel mill has not ground this flour so fine as I be- 



lieve a stone mill would have done. Some of these had 

 their skins stripped off after boiling. Should an expedi- 

 tious method be found of stripping off the skins, it will 

 perhaps be less troublesome than washing so carefully as 

 must otherwise be practised." 



After giving a numerical account of the samples of flour 

 of potato prepared for exhibition ; this gentleman gives also 

 samples of bread and biscuit made from different sorts of 

 potato flour, mixed with different proportions of wheat 

 flour of different degrees of finenes ; but these would be 

 unintelligible iu this place, in the absence of such sam- 

 ples. 



Maufacture " The potato flour used in the bread and biscuit is made 



of the flour, of the whole of the potato, washed, steamed, bruised 



slightly 



