LESSONS FOR AMERICAN POTATO GROWERS. 11. 
ALCOHOL. 
That the manufacture of alcohol from potatoes has not yet become 
established in the United States is due to various reasons. The 
price of potatoes marketable for other purposes has been too high, 
and no sufficient supply of culls and surplus potatoes has been avail- 
able. The average price for distilling potatoes in Germany for the 
five years 1906-1910 was 18.3 cents per bushel. It is probable that 
the farmers there would be less disposed to grow the crop if it were 
not for its indirect benefits, including the feeding value of the mash 
left after the distillation of the alcohol. 
It is quite conceivable, however, that the rapid increase in the 
use of direct-combustion engines for automobiles and other purposes 
may within a few years so deplete the supply of gasoline that alcohol 
can be made here at a profit. 
DRYING POTATOES. 
The potato-drying industry in Germany, as has already been noted, 
is the last development in the utilization of surplus potatoes, and 
came about only through the absolute necessity of finding an outlet 
for the surplus production that could not be consumed by the starch 
and alcohol factories. The rapid increase in the number of potato- 
drying factories in Germany shows great promise for this young 
industry, and should merit the careful consideration of our people as 
to whether the time has not already arrived for the introduction of 
this method into the United States, at least on an experimental basis. 
The problems to be met relate mainly to the present cost of the labor 
in picking up and delivering to the factory the potatoes not market- 
able for table purposes. In many cases, however, it is necessary to 
remove these culls from the field to prevent the spread of potato 
diseases, and it would seem that the drier would pay for the labor 
involved. The dried product is adapted for many purposes. Not 
onfy cattle but horses have been fed the dried potatoes as a substitute 
for grain with perfect satisfaction. 
SUMMARY. 
The potato occupies a leading place in agriculture in Germany. 
The acreage is more than double that of the United States and the 
crop harvested more than four times our total. 
Of these potatoes 40 per cent are fed to stock, 28 per cent are used 
for table purposes, 12 per cent for seed, 6 per cent for alcohol, 4 per 
cent for starch and related products, and 10 per cent decay. 
The per capita consumption for food is T.3 bushels per year in 
Germany, as compared with an estimate of 2.6 bushels in the United 
States. 
