1922.] 



Potato Flour Industry in Holland. 



721 



meet the need of the manufacturers for information and mutual 

 help, and had no concern with sales. The establishment in 1919 

 of the Co-operative Sales' Office for Potato Flour has, however, 

 changed the sy?tem of selling direct from the factory. The task 

 of this organisation is to sell the flour of its members in the 

 most economical and profitable way, and to assist the manufac- 

 turers to solve problems concerning the improvement of methods 

 of production, the increase of the output, and so forth. It is 

 the opinion of the interested growers that on the whole the 

 united co-operative factories now have a far greater influence 

 on market prices than formerly, and this is mostly due to the 

 activity of the Co-operative Sales' Office. The development of 

 this office made the Growers' Association of Flourmills super- 

 fluous and it has recently ceased to exist. 



While most Dutch industries are suffering greatly from the 

 influence of the world crisis and the general trade depression, 

 the co-operative potato flour factories have on the whole no 

 reason to complain. Of late years the quantity of potatoes used 

 for flour-making has been large, especially in 1919-20 and 

 1920-21, and flour prices are said to have been remunerative. 

 The co-operative factories especially have profited by these 

 favourable circumstances, because while the other factories have 

 not always been able to obtain the necessary raw material, the 

 co-operative factories, owing to the supply guaranteed by their 

 members, have not met with this difficult v. 



Of late years almost 70.000 acres of potatoes have been planted 

 in the fen-colonies, where the average yield per acre amounts to 

 8, 9 or 10 tons. Only a small part is used for direct human con- 

 sumption or cattle-food., the bulk being used for flour-making 

 unless a bad harvest or any other crisis in the neighbourhood 

 abnormally increases the demand for direct consumption. 



All the Dutch factories together can use about 90.000 tons 

 of potatoes a week, but the factories only work at their topmost 

 capacity during harvest time and in the months of October, 

 November and December. There are, however, a few factories 

 that start in September and finish in January. During the 

 remaining months of the year the material undergoes further 

 manipulation, and in this way various qualities of flour are 

 manufactured. 



The quantity of potatoes delivered to the flour factories 

 naturally varies with the harvest, and as mentioned above the 

 co-operative factories have now absorbed the bulk of the trade. 

 Figures for three years before and since the War are given below. 



D 



