734 



Potato Scab. 



[march, 



their inspectors to enquire into the methods of manufacture 

 adopted, and his report has been published in the Journal of that 

 Department for January last (Vol. V., No. 2). An account is 

 given of the process, which consists in hydrolising the starch of 

 potatoes (z>,, changing the starch into sugar) by means of the 

 ferment diastase contained in barley malt, fermenting the resulting 

 mash with yeast, and distilling the alcohol from the fermented 

 mass. With regard, however, to the suitability of this industry 

 to Ireland, it appears from estimates of the cost of manufacture, 

 that it could not be profitably carried on if the payment for 

 potatoes exceeded 29s. per ton. In Germany the price paid 

 varies according to the season and other considerations, but 20s. 

 a ton seems to be regarded as an average value for potatoes for 

 industrial purposes. The reason why the distillation of potato 

 spirit pays in Germany appears to be due (1) to the favourable 

 system of taxation adopted in the case of the "agricultural distil- 

 leries," which enables them to compete with distilleries in which 

 cereals alone are used ; (2) the payment of a bounty by the 

 German Government on alcohol used for methylation, export, or 

 in the manufacture of goods intended for export ; (3) the heavy 

 cost of transport of potatoes from some parts of the Empire 

 to a large consuming centre, and the consequent low net price 

 realised for potatoes intended for general consumption ; and (4) 

 the use of a large proportion of potato spirit, when refined and 

 purified, as potable spirit. 



At the present day Potato Scab {Oospora scabies) is one of the 

 most widespread of diseases affecting the potato. The fungus 



usually attacks the tubers while young, form- 

 Potato Scab. ing scattered rough patches or scabs on the 



surface ; these patches gradually increase in 

 size and number, and not infrequently, when the tuber is full- 

 grown, its surface is more or less completely covered with scab. 

 The injury is confined to the surface of the tuber, the skin being 

 broken up into fragments over the diseased patches. Although 

 the market value is much depreciated when scab is present in 

 quantity, the quality of the potato is not in the least impaired 

 for eating. 



