20 BULLETIN 81, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Some means of disposing of surplus potatoes is an economic neces- 
sity. If this can be done at a price reasonably above the cost of 
production, the potato crop will increase and a reserve supply of 
potatoes grown for industrial uses will be established that will meet 
the needs of all short years. 
Diversification or the introduction of better farming systems will 
be a step in this direction. Means should be worked out for keeping 
more live stock, especially swine, on potato farms, and a better 
understanding of the feeding value of potatoes and of the best 
rations combining potatoes with other feeds should be secured. 
The industrial uses of potatoes for starch, dextrin, alcohol, etc., 
require investigation in the United States. Perhaps the most press- 
ing need along this line is the adaptation of a method of drying pota- 
toes, as practiced in Germany, to American conditions, to the end 
that surplus quantities and culls of this perishable product may be 
preserved and by removal of its water rendered transportable to 
market. This problem is closely connected with that of varieties, 
for the starch content of most American potatoes is low, often too 
low for profitable drying. Breeding for higher starch content needs 
to be promoted, as well as breeding for table quality, productivity, 
and disease resistance. 
A nation-wide cooperation for the solution of these different phases 
of the potato question should not leave out of consideration the 
problem of values from a national viewpoint: That the cost of pro- 
ducing and distributing potatoes should be kept down to such a point 
that the market price of this staple food shall be comparable with 
other staples. Marketing investigations and related problems of 
distribution demand active support. 
