AGRICULTURAL ALCOHOL IN GERMANY. 33 
amounted to somewhat less than 5,512 bushels (1,000 Scheffel). All 
of the potatoes except those reserved for the house and for seed 
purposes were used in the distillery. One large structure serves as 
home, barn, granary, etc., but the distillery is in a separate building. 
The equipment dates from 1848 and is of the Pistorius type. Work 
began at 2.30 a. m., and the pay was $2.38 per week with meals while 
jat work. The season began in September and was supposed to last 
until May. 
| About 20 bushels of potatoes were used each day. After being 
steamed they were mashed in a hand mill, the saccharine fermenta- 
ition was started with malt prepared in the cellar of the house, and 
the alcoholic fermentation was started with brewers’ yeast. The 
capacity of the three tubs amounted, respectively, to 246, 272, and 
948 gallons. The yeast, which was kept in a large vat outside the 
building, looked more like the liquid in a manure pit than like any 
well-prepared or preserved yeast. From the fermenting vats the 
mash was lifted by means of buckets into a trough which carried it 
to a warming apparatus (Vorwiirmer). This in turn served to con- 
dense the water from the still, thus concentrating the spirits. The 
large flat still was heated with direct fire. The distiller’s book 
showed that the average yield of alcohol was from 5 to 7 per cent. 
The strength of the spirits obtained was from 48 to 50 per cent. 
‘Two revenue officers, who were visited later, stated that 5 per cent 
was rarely, if ever, obtained, at least in their district. 
| The waste material went to the barn, where it was fed to the cattle. 
‘At that time 20 milch cows and 5 oxen were being fattened. About 
150 to 160 pounds of milk a day were obtained, which sold for 3.6 
cents’ per quart to the milk seller, who peddled it in Munich. Po- 
tatoes were valued at the cooperative distillery at 19 to 20 cents per 
\bushel. Alcohol sold at 61 cents per gallon, with a tax of about 9.9 
| As to whether the distillery paid, the distiller had no idea other 
than that the spent mash or waste was necessary for the cows. That 
the same by-product could be had from the cooperative distillery he 
|evidently did not consider. 
Of the medium-sized distilleries only one was visited. The farm 
(on which it was located had about 247 acres of cultivated land. 
There was a very large building, which served all purposes from a 
| dwelling for the family to a stable for the animals, and it all made 
‘an excellent impression. 
On the whole, the conditions on a large farm differ but little from 
those observed on the small estates in the North. The main differ- 
/ence is probably that the proprietor himself works with all the mem- 
| bers of his family. The distiller on this farm had no assistant, but 
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