1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



481 



HINESBURGH "IMPERISHABLE POTA- 

 TO" FACTORY. 



We heard sometime since that there was es- 

 tablished in this vicinity, at Hinesbnrgh, a factory 

 for puttin{5 into a very portable and almost imper- 

 ishable form the edible substance of potatoes, with- 

 out injui-y to its qualities as an article of food. — 

 From the importance of such an operation to the 

 agricultural operations of this State, the report ex 



potato, if he were in a condition to choose, we 

 have often, within the last five years, had to be 

 content with using potatoes not a whit better than 

 we are speaking of, — hardly as good even. 



It is difficult to comprehend at once the great 

 importance of such preparation of the potato. To 

 a very large portion of tlie human laniily, the po- 

 tato is an article of prime necessity for daily food. 

 All who have been accustomed to use it, feel the 

 deprivation sevei'cly if placed beyond its reach for 



cited a livolv interest in our nnnd, and we set our- - -j 1 1 ,•- --v,- i. j.i r n • a 



1 -.1 "^ i. 1 1 * ^^^t.,;., n,« ^^..r..^^^„ „r any considerable time. \ct the bulkinessand per- 

 selves without dehiy to ascertain the character oil. i-', , j_ _p^, _ ^ _,._„.. .^ ^ i j^i.:.- 



the process, and to see how far it was deserving of 



special attention. 



We will give our readers an account of the op- 



eration, and of what was produced by it. If their 



ishable nature of the tuber in itsnatural condition, 

 make its transportation for great distances by 

 either land or sea an impossibility. For the want 

 of it the health of crews on long voyages, and of 



opinion does not coincide" with our own', that the soldiers or other persons occupied away from where 

 t^- ■ - - .. _ ' it can be procured, is orten greatly injured. In 



subject is of great consequence to this State, capa- 

 ble as it is, of producing for use and manufacture, 

 potatoes of best quality to an almost unlimited 

 amount, we shall be disappointed. 



Taking the hint perhaps from the preservation of 

 tea, mosses, &c., by drying, some years ago exper- 

 menters found out that our common vegetables, 

 such as cabbages, turnips, carrots and potatoes, 

 might be taken fresh, thoroughly dried so prompt- 

 ly as to allow of no incipient fermentation, and 

 pressed and packed in tight vessels so as to exclude 

 moistujie ; and in that state kept for long periods. 

 For use, it was only necessary to soak them prop- 

 erly in fresh water, when they would recover their 

 full bulk, and on cooking, be found to differ very 

 slightly indeed from others which were fresh. 

 Here was an important discovery. Tha expense 

 was small — the reduction of bulk enormous, (a 

 thing of great consequence for shipping and trav- 

 ellers) and the preservation was complete. Gov- 

 ernment commissioners in Europe examined the 

 processes, and tested and approved the result; and 

 at once the preparations came into use under their 

 sanction. The application of this method to pota- 

 toes at the Hinesburgh factory is substantially as 

 follows. Being thoroughly cleansed, deprived of 



some districts too, where it is relied upon as the 

 chief article of food, great distress is caused by the 

 failure of a crop, because the Vv'ant cannot be sup- 

 plied except at very considerable expense. Let the 

 preparation of this "imperishable potato" be made 

 common, and all these evils are substantially done 

 away with. Government ships, whaling vessels, 

 merchant ships, will make it a regular part of their 

 stores. It will not occupy near the room of ship 

 biscuit, and can be kept in store with less risk of 

 spoiling. We are informed that European vessels 

 already make it regularly a part of their stores, 

 when going on voyages across tropics, — and that 

 the discovery ships under charge of Dr. Kane, are 

 supplied with it. Travellers across the continent, 

 and inhabitants of those parts of our OAvn country 

 where the vegetable cannot be raised successfully, 

 must eventually find the prepared article a most 

 convenient one for use. 



Few persons have any conception of the amount 

 of nutritive food which can be raised in the form 

 of potatoes, where the soil and climate are fiwor- 

 able. Though, pound for pound, less nutritious 

 than wheat or rye, as a whole, no other crop can 

 equal it. Careful experiments have shown that 



skins and properly prepared, fresh currents of air [from the same amount of suitable ground where 

 are moved in contact with the potato pulp by ma-jt^ere could be raised, on the average, 3400 lbs. of 

 chinery. The air rapidly takes up and carries off, wheat, or 2200 lbs. peas, there could be raised 

 the moisture. The material is made to take the ,38,000 lbs. potatoes; or, reducing them all to 

 shape of tubes, (maccaroni fashion,) and when! the absolutely dry state, for 3036 lbs. of wheat, 

 perfectly dry, is broken in a proper mill into the 2080 lbs. of peas, there Avould be 9500 lbs. of po- 



form of what is called "samp" or "hominy." In 

 deed it might be easily mistaken for that article 

 made from our common yellow Indian corn. By 

 the process, it has lost nothing but water. But 

 by that loss it is made to occupy but one-sixth of 

 its original bulk, and what before weighed four 

 pounds, now weighs but one pound. In that con- 

 dition it can be packed in tight cases or in tin can- 

 isters, and be transported just as easily as so much 

 dry ice. Years of trial have proved the unchang- 

 ing character of the preparation 



tato, — more than three times the amount of food 

 produced in the shape of wheat, and more thaYi 

 four times that in the form of peas. We quote 

 this statement from the Chemical . Technology of 

 Dr. Knapp, of Giessen, — a recent work ot very 

 great authority. The practical results of some ex- 

 perimentalists on the feeding of cattle with these 

 different articles, place the relative value of the po- 

 tato at a higher mark still. 



For many years the potato crop has been a very 

 important one in Vermont, not barely for its ex- 



No w then for the use. For one pound of it take tensive use at home for food for man and beast, 

 three pounds of boiling water, or (to speak cook- but because it has been largely worked up in the 

 ery-book fashion,) put atca cup full of it into/our starch fiictories. With a great many farmers of 

 tea cups full of boiling hot water. In ten minutes small means it has been a chief reliance where- 

 the water is entirely absorbed, and the result is a 'with to obtain cash in hand by its sale. Since the 

 well cooked dish of mashed potatoes, ready to be 'railroads were built, great quantities have gone 

 salted and buttered, or dealt with, as a like dish to market in a fresh condition at highly remunera- 

 made from fresh potatoes, might be. The taste tive rates to the producer. The terrors of tlie po- 

 differs slightly from that of fresh potatoes^ pre- tato rot have in a great measure passed by ; and 

 pared in the same manner. We speak advisedly, the production can be, and Avill be greatly in- 

 for we have tried it. Though we think any one creased, if the article we are considering shall 

 would prefer to crush for himself a fresh mealy ' come into a wide use, as we think it must, for 



