THE POTATO AND THE POMATO 



as easy to breed potatoes for a larger amount 

 of starch as it is to breed for any other charac- 

 teristic — flavor, resistance to disease, with- 

 standing drought, adaptability to a given 

 climate, early or late maturing, and so on. 



If in his experiments he develops a potato 

 which has twenty-five per cent more starch 

 than the normal potato, — though even a 

 larger amount is possible, — the result is of 

 marked importance from the point of view of 

 the manufacturer. The value of the average 

 annual production of potatoes in the United 

 States is now, approximately, one hundred 

 millions of dollars. In round numbers the 

 United States produces each year about ten 

 million dollars' worth of starch. The chief 

 sources of supply for this starch are Indian 

 corn and potatoes. Of the four main uses 

 to which starch is put, — for the laundry, 

 for the manufacture of glucose, for edible 

 purposes, and for use in the textile arts, — corn, 

 in the United States, supplies the main 

 portion of the first two. In Europe the potato 

 is practically the main source of starch supply. 

 Potato starch is of much importance to the 

 manufacturer of cottons, woolens, silks and 



93 



