262 THE POTATO 



Potatoes are so easily and quickly prepared and 

 may be served in such a variety of ways that they 

 add variety to the daily meal. Their mineral 

 matter is valuable in the processes of digestion. 

 They are easily grown and yield abundantly, and 

 their keeping qualities are excellent. These ad- 

 vantages place them at a price within the reach 

 of all in the localities where they can be grown. 

 Often, when old potatoes are out of the market, 

 new ones are so high in price as practically to be 

 out of reach of those of ordinary means. It is 

 well known that so much of a necessity is the po- 

 tato considered that many families sacrifice to 

 obtain them at the exorbitant prices new potatoes 

 bring in Northern markets; also in the South the 

 same condition occurs later in the season when po- 

 tatoes are scarce and high priced. These facts 

 go to prove the popularity of potatoes in the diet. 

 "As dried or evaporated potatoes become bet- 

 ter known they will supply the poorer people with 

 this much-prized vegetable at a cost within their 

 reach. The composition of such evaporated po- 

 tatoes is much the same as the original. While 

 the flavor and in some cases the appearance does 

 not equal that of fresh potatoes, they may be pre- 

 pared in all the appetizing ways of the fresh ones, 

 and are most acceptable when the fresh potatoes 

 are too high in price to be easily obtained. Evap- 

 orated or dried potatoes should be as common in 

 our markets as the dried fruits that are such a 

 welcome addition to our supply of food when the 

 fresh ones are high priced or out of the market. 

 Even in some of our largest potato-growing states, 

 especially in the Mississippi Valley, potatoes often 

 have very poor keeping qualities, and the average 

 farmer finds himself short or entirely without this 



