236 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



potato 1 And yet cooking will do it for the most of them. Your 

 cook who cuts them, lays them in cold water, then puts them into 

 the pot before it boils, would cut some other things ! The potato 

 should be well washed, put whole into boiling water, watched 

 until done and then instantly drained of water and served up. 

 We kill almost all our potatoes in pretending to cook them. 

 (Cheers.) 



Mr. Lawton has remarked the advantage of a dark cellar for 

 them. He has one quite dark, the other some light. The pota- 

 toes from the dark one are remarkably the best. We must tell 

 everybody to keep his potatoes perfectly dark. 



Prof. Nash said that the temperature at which the potatoes are 

 kept has much to do with their preservation, and in stowing them 

 the more dirt the better. That farmer who digs his potatoes and 

 lets them lie exposed for hours to a hot sun, does them great 

 harm. The rule should be out of the dark ground into a dark 

 cellar as soon as posisible, and the sooner the better. I will take 

 this occasion to say how hard it is to avoid routine. Mr. Stebbins 

 never hilled up his corn, when every body else did, and had bet- 

 ter crops than his neighbors, who all hilled — this was when I was 

 a boy. 



The Chairman — One barrel of flour supports one person a year; 

 it would require several of potatoes to do that. 



Dr. Smith gave an exact account of the Lancashire mode of 

 cooking potatoes — from which it seems that the art consists in 

 putting into boiling water and carefully watching them until 

 done, and serving them up as soon as possible, and they are mealy 

 and bright. 



Mr. Starbuck, in reply to a question, said that this Southworth 

 machine would prepare pumpkin, squash, &c., in similar style to 

 the potato. One machine in an ordinary sized town would do all 

 the work required for farmer, and for merchant. 



Prof Nash — Considering the great amount of work this machine 

 can do, and the value of it, it is not dear. Millions of dollars a 

 year can be saved by it. In preserving the potatoes great care is 

 requisite in keeping all bad parts out, for a small portion will 

 injure a considerable mass. 



