260 



The Potato 



attained large proportions. Potato flour, glucose, sirup, 

 mucilage and a number of tinctures are also made from 

 potatoes. In Europe the small potatoes and culls are 

 used to feed stock, and the slops from the manufacture 

 of alcohol are carted away daily for this purpose. 



USE FOR HUMAN FOOD 



So accustomed have we become to the potato that it 

 is difficult to imagine our tables without it. It furnishes 

 us daily with an abundant supply of nutrients at a rela- 

 tively low price. Primarily it is a starchy food, but it 

 also contains some protein and a little mineral matter, 



and it adds bulk 

 to the food eaten. 

 It is said that the 

 potato represents 

 3.9 per cent of the 

 total cost of food, 

 and furnishes 5.3 



Fig. 22. Composition of the potato, a, fat; per CCUt of the heat 

 ?, crude fiber and other carbohydrates exclusive ^^lories needed by 

 of starch ; c, protein ; a, ash. •' 



the body. As the 

 potato is somewhat deficient in protein and fats, it cannot 

 be used exclusively in the diet, but must be combined 

 with lean meat, legumes, eggs or other protein-supplying 

 foods, and with cream, butter or other fatty substances. 

 Not only does the potato furnish considerable nutri- 

 ment, but it supplies it in an easily digestible form. The 

 starch in potatoes is much more readily digested than 

 the starch of cereals or other starch-producing foods. In 

 Germany a gruel made from the pulp of baked potatoes 

 is used to feed infants and invalids. 



