LESSONS FOR AMERICAN POTATO GROWERS. 11 



ALCOHOL. 



That the manufacture of alcohol from potatoes has not yet become 

 established in the United States is due to various reasons. The 

 price of potatoes marketable for other purposes has been too high, 

 and no sufficient supply of culls and surplus potatoes has been avail- 

 able. The average price for distilling potatoes in Germany for the 

 five years 1906-1910 was 18.3 cents per bushel. It is probable that 

 the farmers there would be less disposed to grow the crop if it were 

 not for its indirect benefits, including the feeding value of the mash 

 left after the distillation of the alcohol. 



It is quite conceivable, however, that the rapid increase in the 

 use of direct-combustion engines for automobiles and other purposes 

 may within a few years so deplete the supply of gasoline that alcohol 

 can be made here at a profit. 



DRYING POTATOES. 



The potato-drying industry in Germany, as has already been noted, 

 is the last development in the utilization of surplus potatoes, and 

 came about only through the absolute necessity of finding an outlet 

 for the surplus production that could not be consumed by the starch 

 and alcohol factories. The rapid increase in the number of potato- 

 drying factories in Germany shows great promise for this young 

 industry, and should merit the careful consideration of our people as 

 to whether the time has not already arrived for the introduction of 

 this method into the United States, at least on an experimental basis. 

 The problems to be met relate mainly to the present cost of the labor 

 in picking up and delivering to the factory the potatoes not market- 

 able for table purposes. In many cases, however, it is necessary to 

 remove these culls from the field to prevent the spread of potato 

 diseases, and it would seem that the drier would pay for the labor 

 involved. The dried product is adapted for many purposes. Not 

 only cattle but horses have been fed the dried potatoes as a substitute 

 for grain with perfect satisfaction. 



SUMMARY. 



The potato occupies a leading place in agriculture in Germany. 

 The acreage is more than double that of the United States and the 

 crop harvested more than four times our total. 



Of these potatoes 40 per cent are fed to stock, 28 per cent are used 

 for table purposes, 12 per cent for seed, 6 per cent for alcohol, 4 per 

 cent for starch and related products, and 10 per cent decay. 



The per capita consumption for food is 7.3 bushels per year in 

 Germany, as compared with an estimate of 2.6 bushels in the United 

 States. 



