768 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



and Boussard, two French scientists. The authors believe that the 

 culinary value of potatoes is directly proportional to their nitrogen 

 content and inversely proportional to their starch content. The dif- 

 ferent varieties of potatoes were found to vary greatly in their re- 

 sistance to boiling, some retaining their form completely, while 

 others were almost wholly disintegrated. The opinion was ad- 

 vanced that resistance to boiling depends principally upon the rela- 

 tive amount of albuminoids present. No definite relation was ob- 

 served between chemical composition and early maturity. Gener- 

 ally speaking, the early varieties contained more water and nitroge- 

 nous materials and less starch than the late varieties tested. 



"As regards chemical composition, it may be said in general that 

 boiled potatoes contain a little less water than raw potatoes, and ex- 

 cept as this changes somewhat the proportion of nutrients, they dif- 

 fer little in composition from the raw. Mashed potatoes, if they 

 are not seasoned, must necessarily have the composition of the un- 

 mashed boiled potato, making allowance for the small proportion of 

 water which would probably be lost by evaporation in mashing. 

 When milk, cream or butter is added to mashed potatoes in prepar- 

 ing them for the table, the nutritive value is increased, though the 

 chief reason for adding sudh materials is doubtless to improve the 

 flavor. This is also the reason why salt and pepper are added. 

 Baked potatoes have practically the same composition as the un- 

 cooked, some water being lost by evaporation. When potatoes are 

 fried, as in making potato chips, they lose by evaporation much of 

 the water present and absorb more or less fat. They, therefore, have 

 a higher nutritive value, pound for pound, than raw potatoes. Po- 

 tato chips have been found, by analysis, to contain two per cent, 

 water and 39.8 per cent, fat, as compared with 78 per cent, water and 

 0.1 per cent, fat when raw. The many ways of cooking potatoes, 

 with or without the addition of other materials, which are described 

 in books devoted to cookery, are, in principle, modifications of those 

 already alluded to. The wholesomeness of potatoes cooked in differ- 

 ent ways is largely a matter which each must decide for himself, the 

 general experience being that for men in health most of the methods 

 followed are satisfactory. 



"Evaporated potatoes are now on the market, being especially rec- 

 ommended for provisioning camps and expeditions. As compared 

 with fresh, the evaporated potatoes have a high nutritive value in 

 proportion to their bulk. This is the case with all evaporated foods, 

 such material having been concentrated by the removal of a large 

 proportion of the water originally present." 



Potatoes for Live Stock. — Many experiments have been conducted 

 to determine the value of potatoes for feeding to farm animals. It 

 is found that fhey have a value as an aid in digestion of dry feeds 



