THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



103 



coarser partg, are separateil,ainl must be pressed, to extract 

 from it wliat starch still remains. 



•Itli Water is poured on the pulp whilst passing through 

 the sieve. This is run into vats, in which it is allowed to 

 |settle. When quite clear, the water is poured off, and a 

 fresh supply put on. 



5th. u'hcn the starch is perfectly clean, the water is 

 finally poured off, and the starch taken out, and laid on 

 A perfectly clean floor, where it Soon becomes hardened 

 and consolidated into a firm cake, or mass. 



The sixth process finishes the operation, by breaking up 

 the mass into llour, and passing it through a bolting ma- 

 chine like those in a iiour-niill, which prepares it for sale. 



Any machiuist is competent to fit up the necessary appa- 

 ratus, either upon a large or small, cheap or expensive 

 scale. No grower of potatoes to anj' considerable extent 

 ought to be without this addition to his agricultural imple- 

 ments or machinery, especially in those parts of the 

 country where it is difficult to dispose of a crop of unsound 

 potatoes, and it may not be convenient to consume them by 

 cdltle or pigs. In such cases, the diseased tubers are scarcely 

 worth the raising ; and we have this season heard of in- 



stances in which the growers will not go to the expense of 

 raising tliem. The money produce of manufacturing the 

 potatoes may be stated as follows : 



1 ton of potatoes, or 2,'2401b., produces, at 17 per £ s. d« 

 cent., 3 cwt. 1 qr. 161b. of starch, at £22 per 



ton 3 15 



1 cwt. of residue 11 



£4 6 



Against this must be charged the expense of manufac- 

 ture, and the wear-and-tear of machinerj^, neither of which 

 is at all costly, as they require neither skilled labour nor 

 complicated machines. 



Were it not for the excise, the starch, when extracted, 

 might easily be converted into sugar by a chemical process, 

 every cwt. of starch (ll'ilb.) producing 14(llb. of sugar. 

 The process, however, is both complicated and expensive, 

 and would only be remunerative upon a large scale, which 

 is not the case with the manufacture of starch, which may 

 be performed by women in even a less expensive mode (on 

 a small scale) than the one we have described. 



EXTRACTION OF FOOD AND STARCH FROM THE POTATO. 



Sir, — I have read with great pleasure your observa- 

 tions respecting the extraction of starch from the po- 

 tato ; and asl have bad much experience in the matter, 

 having been, I believe, the first to introduce the manufac- 

 ture into this country, as far back as the year 1830, I 

 would beg to offer my testimony in favour of all you 

 have stated, and strongly recommend to farmers the con- 

 version of the potato not only into starch, but into food, 

 which could be simply accomplished, even with the ap- 

 pliances which almost every farmer now possesses. 



The paper which I send you — the Irish Farmers' 

 Journal, of the 27th of May, 1846 — gives a description 

 of what was then put into practice at the South Dublin 

 Union by the paupers, in producing food from diseased 

 potatoes ; and the facts are, I conceive, of paramount 

 interest to every farmer. 



Strange to say, the whole has lain dormant since that 

 time, notwithstanding that not one word of what is set 

 forth can be denied. It is incontrovertible that the actual 

 nutritive value of food for man, to be had from the pota- 

 to, is nearly four times that to be had from wheat, when 

 the produce of each is taken from an equal extent of 

 land. In other words, an acre of land cultivated with 

 wheat will produce an average of — starch, sugar, gluten, 

 and oil — 1,055 lbs., whilst an acre of potatoes will pro- 

 duce, of the same, 4,076 lbs,, each constituent being 

 in nearly equal proportion. 



Should you think right to insert this communication 

 and the paper I send, I shall at another time put before 

 your readers simple directions for the modus operandi ; 

 and some facts which may perhaps explain why so sin- 

 gularly advantageous a process, as well for the farmer as 

 the public, has been sufiered to rest unproductive. 



I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant. 

 Jasper W, Rogers. 



Peat House, Rodertstotvn, Co. Kildare, 

 Bee. 27, 1857, 



ARTIFICIAL PREPARATIONS FROM THE 

 POTATO, 



There is no other of our agricultural plants which have 

 come in alternately for so great a share of eulogy and abuse 

 as the potato. On one hand we hear of its being one of the 

 best of Nature's gifts; and on the other, that to its general 

 cultivation in this country we may ascribe most of tne mi- 



sery of its inhabitants. Notwithstanding all the discussion 

 which has taken place on the subject, it is surprising that 

 the real value of the potato should be so little understood. 

 In its ordinary form it is one of the most perishable articles 

 offood which we possess ; but it is capable of being rendered, 

 by artificial means of an extremely simple character, not only 

 portable, but capable of being preserved for an almost inde- 

 finite period. There is, in fact, scarcely any other vegetable 

 production capable of being made to assume so many forms 

 or of being turned to account in so many different ways ; 

 but although this property has been long known to scien- 

 tific men, it is surprising how little way has hitherto been 

 made in putting the lower classes, who are forced to exist 

 almost exclusively on a potato diet, in possession of this in- 

 formation. 



The disease which made such ravages among the potato 

 crop of last season has caused attention to be forciblj' di- 

 rected to these facts, and the conversion of the decaying 

 portion of the crop into farina was a favourite project. It 

 being known that the attention of Government was directed 

 to the matter, numerous statements on the subject were 

 placed before his Excellency ; and among others one from 

 Mr. Jasper W. Rogers, C.E., who had more than ordinaiy 

 experience. That gentleman's plan was considered so very 

 satisfactory that his Excellency the Lord- Lieutenant at 

 once gave directions that facilities should be granted for 

 having it fairly tested. Some of the results of Mr. Rogers' 

 method of making the potato available as food, in many 

 different forms, were exhibited on Saturday last, in the 

 Board-room of the South Dublin Union Workhouse, before 

 the Guardians and a number of other influential and scien- 

 tific persons in the form of an elegant dejeuner, a.\\ the items 

 of which, with the exception of coffee, were prepared more 

 or less from the potato ; when a most satisfactory account 

 was afforded by Mr, Rogers, of the different processes in 

 their preparation, with much interesting information rela- 

 tive to the value of the potato itself, which, he very justly 

 observed, is too much overlooked. Every one present was 

 astonished at the rich treat provided on the occasion; which 

 consisted of soup, stirabout, milk porridge, jellies, blanc- 

 mange, Spanish flummery, and pastry of all kinds, made, 

 as we have already stated, principally of the produce of the 

 potato, either as meal, flour, or fecula. 



After the gentlemen present had partaken of the various 

 preparations,"Mr. Rogers observed that the preparation of 

 the meal ami flour from potatoes waS so simple that it could 

 be accomplished in the cottage of the poorest peasant. He 

 then described the component parts of each food upon the 

 table. The general proportion being one-half potatoes; 

 some, however — viz., milk porridge, " Scotch bread," and 



