NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 



linens, as sizing for the warp before it is 

 woven; for finishing the goods after they have 

 been woven, bleached and dyed, and, in the 

 form of dextriiie, as a thickener or vehicle 

 for applying the colors to a fabric. The dex- 

 trine, or British gum, is used a great deal also 

 in the manufacturing of mucilages. 



But the potatoes in use for starch manufac- 

 ture in the United States are very often poor in 

 quality, made up of culls, immature tubers, or 

 those injured in digging and sold as waste. 

 The starch is quite likely also to be low in 

 grade and lacking in uniformity, greatly vary- 

 ing from day to day. Still, notwithstanding 

 this, for use in textile arts, the potato starch 

 commands nearly^ double the price of corn 

 starch. 



Attempts have -been made to increase the 

 supply of starch by the use of fertilizers, but 

 Mr. Burbank's plan is better than this, for it 

 begins with the source of the supply itself and 

 works directly upon the starch in the plant, as 

 is the case in the breeding of corn for a larger 

 starch -content. The potatoes which show a 

 somewhat larger amount of starch are selected 

 for further testing, and here again the supreme 



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