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BOOT CHOPS. 



Few persons are probably aware of the quantity of potatoes 

 used in England, America and the Continent, in the manufacture 

 of starch, arrowroot, and tapioca, &c., A starch manufactory in 

 Mercer, Maine, United States, grinds from 16,000 to 24,000 

 bushels annually of potatoes, and makes 140,000 to 240,000 Ibs. 

 of starch, which finds a ready market at Boston, at four dollars 

 the hundred pounds. The New England manufacturers prefer it 

 to Poland starch. Another starch manufacturer, in Hampden, 

 America, consumes 2,500 bushels per day. In a single district in 

 Bavaria, in Germany, 400,000 Ibs. of sago and starch are manu- 

 factured from potatoes ; 100 Ibs. of potatoes are said to yield 

 12 Ibs. of starch. From experiments made in America, with three 

 varieties of potatoes, the long reds, Philadelphia, and pink-eyes, 

 it was found that the former yielded the most starch, viz., about 

 6 Ibs. to the bushel. A bushel of potatoes weighs about 64 Ibs. 

 The following table from Accum, gives the rate of starch and com- 

 ponent parts per cent, in different varieties : 



The first six varieties were analysed by Einhoff, the next four 

 by Lamped, and the last named by Henry. 



YAMS. 



THE different species of yams have a wide range. In the West 

 Indies there are several varieties, having distinctive names, ac- 

 cording to quality, color, &c., as the white yam, the red yam, 

 the negro yam, the Creole yam, the afoo yam, the buck yam 

 (Dioscorea triphyllci), which is found wild in Java and the East; 

 the Guinea yam, the Portuguese yam, the water yam, and the 

 Indian yam, &c. The last is considered the most farinaceous and 

 delicate in its texture, resembling in size the potato ; most of 

 the other sorts are coarse, but still very nutritive and useful. 

 The common yam (JDioscorea sativa) is indigenous to the Eastern 

 Islands and AVest Indies. The Guinea "yam (Z>. aculeata) 

 is a native of the East. The Barbados or winged yam (Z). alata ?} 

 has a widely extended range, being common to India, Java, Brazil, 



