AGRICULTURAL ALCOHOL IN GERMANY. Tt 
because of the enormously increased potato production. Indeed, 
the surplus of alcohol carried over increased from year to year. 
VOLUNTARY REGULATION OF PRODUCTION. 
In October, 1902, the surplus for which no use could be found 
amounted to 26,417,500 gallons (100,000,000 liters), approximately 
double the quantity that had to be carried over in any previous year. 
Something had to be done to diminish this surplus if a crisis which 
would affect the entire distilling industry was to be prevented. The 
consumption could not be sufficiently increased to reestablish the 
equilibrium, especially since the amount used as a beverage decreased 
rather than increased. Another measure, therefore, had to be re- 
sorted to, namely, the regulation of production. The agreement be- 
tween the agricultural distiller and the association did not permit of 
such a regulation by contract. An appeal, however, to the agricul- 
tural distillers was not made in vain. The large majority of dis- 
tillers realized that it would be more profitable for them to produce 
smaller quantities with reasonable profits than to distill large quan- 
tities at a loss. The representatives of 90 per cent of the agricul- 
tural potato industry voluntarily agreed to inflict upon themselves 
a reduction of 18 per cent, calculated on an average production for 
the years 1896-97 to 1900-1901. The result was that the surplus car- 
ried over the next fiscal year dropped to about 7,925,250 gallons 
(30,000,000 liters). The production agreement henceforth became a 
standard feature of the distilling industry. 
The 9-year contract entered upon in 1899 between the Society of 
German Distillers and the Central Association expired in 1908, and 
the renewal of this contract for another nine years was accomplished. 
While the existing situation was thus assured, the distilling industry 
nevertheless anticipated the future with some curiosity if not 
anxley. . 
THE POTATO THE PRINCIPAL SOURCE OF ALCOHOL. 
The cultivation of the potato in Europe is of quite recent date 
when compared with that of grain, which has been cultivated two 
thousand years or more. Toward the end of the sixteenth century, 
the potato was brougnt from America to certain parts of Spain and 
Engiand. At first it was considered a curiosity, and for a long 
time attracted but little attention when cultivated in gardens. Grad- 
ually, however, the value of the potato as a nutritious food became 
_ known and its cultivation increased accordingly. 
The great extent to which the cultivation of the potato was car- 
ried on in Prussia during the second half of the eighteenth century 
was due to the efforts of Frederick the Great, who appreciated thor- 
oughly the great politico-economical significance of its cultivation. 
