POT 



POT 



349 



most fatten them. The English 

 farmers parboil them, not only for 

 swine, but for horned cattle. I 

 know of no food that will more in- 

 crease the quantity of milk in cows ; 

 and they give milk no ill taste, 

 whether boiled or raw. hi either 

 way cows are very fond of them. 

 For horses they should be boiled. 

 The largest and smallest, the irre- 

 gular shaped and the cut ones, 

 should be put by for the cattle : 

 For middling roots are best both 

 foreating and | lanting. Overgrown 

 ones are apt to be hollow and wat- 

 ery ; and wounded ones rot, oftener 

 than sound ones. 



As a further recommendation of 

 this useful root, I may add, the fa- 

 rinaceous part of it makes an ex- 

 cellent starch, much superior, as 

 some say, and not half so costly, as 

 that made of wheat. The method 

 of making potatoe starch, according 

 to Mr. VVeston, is as follows : 

 " Wash and pare them, grate them 

 upon large tin graters, and fill tubs 

 about half full with the pulp : 

 Then fill them up with water : Stir 

 it well once a day, for three or four 

 days, and take oflf all the scum. 

 About the 5th day take out the 

 pulp, and put it into shallow earth 

 en pans, such as are used for milk, 

 as much as will cover the bottom 

 an inch think, and put water upon 

 it. Every morning pour off the 

 water, break up the starch, and add 

 fresh w^ter. When it is thus be- 

 come very white, leave it in the 

 pans till it is quite dry, then put it 

 into paper bags, and put it in a dry 

 place to keep." 



This sort of starch has been made 

 and used in my house, for twenty 



or thirty years past. The making 

 of a quantity that will serve for a 

 year is always begun and finished 

 in a day or two. As soon as the 

 starch is settled to the bottom, 

 which it does in twenty minutes, the 

 water is renewed ; and instead of 

 its standing in tubs, and being skim- 

 med, we strain it through a cloth. 

 Which of these methods is to be 

 preferred, I do not determine. 



Some suppose this starch is apt 

 to rot the things which are stilfened 

 with it ; but tliis is a great mistake. 



In an abstract of the Memoirs of 

 the Swedish Academy, the above 

 writer found the followin"; account 

 of one of their methods of using 

 potatoes. " Mr. Charles Skytse 

 has proposed to distil brandy from 

 j)otatoes, in order to save the corn, 

 which is so dear in Sweden ; and 

 finds by experience, that an acre of 

 land set with potatoes, will yield a 

 much greater quantity of brandy, 

 than when sown with barley." It 

 is asserted that a gallon of good 

 strong spirit may be taken from six 

 pecks of boiled potatoes, by distil- 

 lation. 



The account given by Dr. An- 

 derson of his success in extracting 

 potatoe spirits is this : He boiled 

 72 pounds of potatoes, they were 

 then bruised, and passed through a 

 riddle along with some fresh water. 

 The pulp was then mixed with cold 

 water, till the whole amounted to 

 about 20 gallons. This was allow- 

 ed to cool, till it attained. to such a 

 temperature, as would be proper 

 for mixing yeast with wort, when 

 some yeast was put to it. In ten 

 or twelve hours the fermentation 

 began, which continued very brisk- 



