CHAPTER V. 
Various Uses to which Potatoes are applied. 
THE most important application of potatoes is as human 
food; on this it is unnecessary to enlarge. 
Einhoff found mealy potatoes to contain twenty-four per 
cent. of their weight of nutritive matter, and rye seventy 
parts; consequently sixty-four and a half measures of pota- 
toes afford the same nourishment as twenty-four measures of 
rye. A thousand parts of potatoes yielded to Sir Humphrey 
Davy two hundred to three hundred parts of nutritive matter, 
of which one hundred and fifty-five to two hundred were 
mucilage or starch, fifteen to twenty sugar, and thirty to forty 
gluten. Now, supposing an acre of potatoes to weigh nine 
tons, and an acre of wheat to weigh one ton, which is about 
the usual proportion, then, as one thousand parts of wheat 
afford nine hundred and fifty nutritive parts, and one thou- 
sand of potatoes say two hundred and thirty, the quantity of 
nutritive matter afforded by an acré of wheat and potatoes 
will be nearly as nine to four; so that an acre of potatoes 
will supply more than double the quantity of human food 
afforded by an acre*of wheat. The potatoe is, perhaps, the 
only root grown, which may be eaten every day in the year 
without satiating the palate. They are therefore the only 
substitute that can be used for bread, with any degree of suc- 
cess. Inthe answer by Dr. Tissot to M. Linquet, the for- 
