1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
625 
Taking  Starch  Out  of  Potatoes. 
IT  STIFFENS  FARMING  IN  AROOSTOOK  COUNTY. 
All  About  the  Business. 
( Concluded . ) 
How  the  Potatoes  are  Grown. 
Different  farmers  have,  of  course,  systems  differing 
as  to  details,  but  a  general  system  of  culture  prevails 
throughout  the  courty.  On  rough  pasture  land  which 
has  not  been  tilled  since  first  cleared  and  burned,  no 
fertilizer  is  used.  The  stumps  are  taken  out  during 
the  summer  and  fall  as  leisure  is  afforded,  and  the 
land  plowed  either  in  the  fall  or  in  the  spring  follow¬ 
ing.  The  ground  is  then  thoroughly  harrowed,  most 
farmers  now  using  the  spring-tooth  harrow  for  fitting 
their  ground.  On  fields  that  have  been  previously 
tilled  for  a  number  of  years,  it  is  of  course  necessary 
to  use  barnyard  manure,  or  some  fertilizer,  in  order  to 
prevent  soil  exhaustion  to  an  undue  extent.  Some 
farmers  practice  hauling  the  manure  and  spreading 
it  upon  the  sod  immediately  after  the  hay  has  been 
taken  off  and  letting  it  lie  until  spring  before  plow¬ 
ing.  Others  plow  the  manure  under  in  the  fall  and 
still  others  plow  before  spreading  the  manure  and 
mix  it  with  the  soil  by  means  of  the  spring-tooth  har¬ 
row.  Commercial  fertilizers  are  now  used  upon  the 
crops  to  a  considerable  extent.  Many  farmers  now 
use  the  Aspinwall  planter,  which  has  an  attachment 
for  dropping  the  fertilizer  along  with  the  seed.  With 
those  who  do  not  use  the  planter  the  method  of  plant¬ 
ing  is  usually  as  follows :  After  the  ground  is  thor¬ 
oughly  harrowed,  it  is  marked  off  into  rows  by  the 
marker,  which  is  drawn  by  one  horse  and  makes  two 
or  three  rows  at  once,  the  rows  being  from  2%  to  3 
feet  apart.  The  seed  is  then  dropped  in  the  rows  by 
hand  and  covered  with  the  horse  hoe  drawn  by  two 
horses.  The  usual  practice  is  to  cut  the  potatoes  into 
pieces  containing  one  or  two  healthy  “  eyes”  and  to 
drop  these  pieces  from  10  to  15  inches  apart  in  the 
rows.  If  fertilizer  is  to  be  applied  it  is  strewn  in  the 
rows  before  the  seed  is  dropped,  and  some  run  the 
marker  over  the  rows  after  dropping  the  phosphate, 
in  order  to  mix  it  with  the  soil.  A  man  with  a  pair  of 
horses  and  horse  hoe  will  cover  four  or  five  acres  in  a 
day,  with  the  soil  in  favorable  condition.  Many  far¬ 
mers  have  adopted  the  practice  of  running  the  horse 
hoe  over  the  rows  a  week  or  two  after  planting  and 
before  the  potatoes  are  up,  in  order  to  keep  back  the 
weeds.  As  soon  as  the  plants  show  through  the 
ground  the  cultivator  is  run  between  the  rows  and  if 
many  weeds  appear  in  the  rows  between  the  hills  they 
are  cut  out  with  the  hand  hoe.  The  cultivator  is 
worked  a  number  of  times  at  intervals  during  the 
growth  of  the  young  plants,  and  when  the  plants  are 
of  sufficient  size  they  are  “  hilled  up  ”  with  the  horse 
hoe  and  left  to  grow.  If  the  beetles  appear  in  num¬ 
bers  sufficient  to  threaten  the  crop,  Paris-green  is  ap¬ 
plied.  Some  mix  it  with  plaster  and  coarse  flour  and 
apply  dry  by  means  of  a  perforated  tin  pail  or  basin, 
but  most  mix  the  green  with  water  and  apply  with 
hand  sprinklers. 
Many  different  potato  diggers  have  been  tried  and 
discarded  by  Aroostook  farmers,  and  no  machinery 
that  has  yet  been  introduced  into  the  county  gives 
perfect  satisfaction  as  a  digger.  The  Hoover  and 
Pruyn  diggers  are  used  by  many  farmers  and  do  bet¬ 
ter  work  than  any  others  yet  tried.  Still  the  greater 
part  of  the  potatoes  are  dug  by  hand  with  the  pronged 
hoe.  Much  of  the  extra  help  in  potato  digging  is  sup¬ 
plied  from  “  Madawaska,”  which  is  the  general  name 
given  to  the  French  settlements  upon  the  St.  John 
River  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county.  One  dollar 
per  day  is  the  usual  wages  paid  in  digging  time  and 
the  cost  of  digging  and  delivering  at  the  factory  may 
be  safely  placed  at  from  $6  to  $8  per  acre  on  farms 
near  the  starch  factories.  Of  course,  on  farms  more 
distant  the  cost  of  hauling  would  add  to  these  figures. 
How  the  Starch  is  Made. 
We  have  now  raised  and  dug  a  crop  of  potatoes  and 
we  will  next  proceed  to  manufacture  it  into  starch. 
The  starch  factory  usually  consists  of  a  large  building 
called  the  potato  house  with  a  very  deep  and  capacious 
cellar  for  receiving  the  potatoes.  Upon  the  upper 
floor  of  this  building  the  potatoes  are  received,  loads 
driving  in  upon  the  large  scales  where  they  are 
weighed  and  the  potatoes  then  emptied  into  the  big 
cellar  beneath.  Connected  with  this  building  and 
often  under  the  same  roof  is  the  large  building  con¬ 
taining  the  “mill”  and  also  the  vat  house  where  the 
starch  is  settled  after  grinding.  The  dry  houses  are 
usually  separate  buildings,  situated  about  100  feet 
from  the  main  building  on- account  of  the  danger  from 
fire.  They  are  connected  with  the  vat  house  by  nar¬ 
row  platforms,  or  plank  ways,  upon  which  the  starch 
is  wheeled  from  the  vats  to  the  dry  house.  Most  fac¬ 
tories  have  two  dry  houses  and  the  cost  of  building 
the  factories  complete  is  from  $5,000  to  $10,000,  accord¬ 
ing  to  size  and  finish.  A  load  of  potatoes  is  driven 
upon  the  scales  and  weighed  ;  it  is  then  driven  off  and 
the  load  emptied  into  the  cellar  and  the  cart  driven 
back  upon  the  scales  and  weighed,  the  tare  deducted 
and  the  true  number  of  pounds  credited  the  hauler. 
After  being  emptied  into  the  cellar,  the  potatoes  are 
usually  passed  over  a  rack  to  take  out  the  dirt  and 
small  stones  and  are  then  shoveled  into  the  “  washer.” 
which  is  a  sort  of  hopper,  where  they  are  kept  in 
motion  by  a  revolving  shaft,  while  a  stream  of  clear 
cold  water  is  continually  running  upon  and  through 
them.  A  revolving  “  hand  ”  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
washer  throws  the  washed  potatoes  into  the  hopper 
of  the  “grater.”  The  grater  is  a  cylinder  some  four 
feet  long  and  two  feet  in  diameter  covered  with  cor¬ 
rugated  sheet  iron.  This  cylinder  revolves  among  the 
potatoes  and  grinds  them  to  pulp,  a  stream  of  cold 
w'ater  running  upon  them  during  the  whole  operation. 
The  grated  potato,  or  “  pomace”  runs  out  upon  a  sieve 
of  equal  width  with  the  grater  and  some  eight  feet  in 
length.  This  sieve  has  a  shaking  movement  and  above 
it  are  boxes  or  tanks  with  perforated  bottoms,  through 
which  water  is  discharged  in  jets  upon  the  grated  potato 
and  washes  out  the  starch  which  with  the  water  runs 
through  the  sieves  into  conductors  that  carry  it  to  the 
vats,  while  other  conductors  carry  off  the  pomace  or 
pulp  into  the  stream.  No  value  has  ever  been  discov¬ 
ered  in  this  refuse  of  the  potato  after  the  starch  has 
been  washed  out,  and  it  is  allowed  to  float  down  the 
stream.  The  vats  are  rectangular  pits  made  of  pine  or 
spruce  planks  set  edgewise  and  keyed  up  in  a  tight 
frame.  They  are  usually  about  30  feet  long,  15  feet 
wide  and  4  feet  deep.  When  a  vat  is  filled  with  the 
water  with  starch  in  solution,  it  is  left  for  the  starch 
to  settle  to  the  bottom  of  the  vat,  which  it  does  in  from 
four  to  eight  hours.  As  soon  as  the  starch  has  settled 
in  a  compact  mass,  the  water  is  drawn  off.  The  starch 
is  then  shoveled  into  a  smaller  vat  alongside  called  the 
“stirrer.”  Water  is  run  in,  and  a  revolving  shaft  with 
arms  or  paddles  stirs  the  starch  thoroughly  through 
the  water.  After  it  is  thus  liquified,  the  stirrer  shaft 
is  removed,  and  the  starch  is  allowed  to  settle  a  second 
time,  which  it  does  in  about  24  hours.  The  pure  starch 
settles  in  a  white  mass  upon  the  bottom  of  the  vat,  and 
above  this  is  a  layer,  usually  about  four  inches  thick, 
of  what  is  called  “  brown  starch,”  or  starch  with  which 
are  mixed  fine  portions  of  the  potato  skin  and  pcmace. 
This  layer  of  “  brown  starch”  is  now  shoveled  off 
carefully  into  an  adjoining  vat  called  the  “  drug  vat,” 
where  it  is  again  stirred  in  cold  water.  The  stirrer 
shaft  is  removed,  and,  as  the  white  starch  separates 
from  the  impure,  it  is  drawn  off  through  plug  holes  in 
the  side  of  the  vats,  caught  in  tanks  or  barrels,  and 
pumped  back  into  the  vats  with  the  pure  starch,  while 
the  residuum  is  run  off  with  the  waste.  After  the 
white  starch  has  thoroughly  settled,  it  is  shoveled  up 
into  wheelbarrows  and  wheeled  over  the  long  platform 
to  the  top  story  of  the  dry  house.  In  the  dry  house 
are  usually  eight  tiers  of  racks,  one  above  the  other, 
and  some  15  inches  apart,  running  the  entire  length 
of  the  long  dry  house.  These  racks  are  made  of  smooth, 
wooden  slats,  which  in  the  topmost  rack  are  about  an 
inch  apart,  and  continue  to  grow  nearer  in  each  suc¬ 
ceeding  rack  as  you  descend,  until,  in  the  bottom  rack, 
the  slats  are  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  apart.  The 
starch,  when  wheeled  from  the  vats,  is  spread  in  a 
wet,  pasty  mass  upon  the  top  rack,  and  left  to  dry 
over  an  intense  heat.  In  some  dry  houses  furnaces 
are  used  with  sheet-iron  pipes  to  conduct  the  heat 
to  all  portions  of  the  rack  tiers.  Others  dry  by 
steam  pipes  which  are  placed  around  the  racks, 
and  through  them  hot  steam  is  forced.  As  soon 
as  the  starch  upon  the  top  rack  has  become  sufficiently 
dry  to  break  up  it  is  raked  down  through  the  slats 
upon  the  next  rack  below.  Here  it  remains  for  fur¬ 
ther  drying  and  then  the  process  of  raking  and  drying 
is  repeated  until  the  starch  has  been  raked  through 
all  the  tier  and  has  landed  upon  the  bottom  rack. 
Here  it  is  thoroughly  dried  and  then  raked  through 
this  lowest  rack  when  it  falls  upon  a  broad  table,  a 
finished  product.  From  this  table  it  is  conveyed  by 
troughs,  or  conductors,  into  casks  holding  from  500  to 
600  pounds;  the  casks  are  carefully  headed  up,  weighed 
and  branded  and  taken  to  the  storehouse,  whence 
they  are  hauled  to  the  railroad  station  and  shipped 
to  the  commission  merchant. 
A  good  average  yield  of  starch  is  from  eight  to  ten 
pounds  to  the  bushel  of  potatoes.  The  riper  the  pota¬ 
toes  are  the  more  starch  they  will  yield,  other  condi¬ 
tions  being  equal. 
Hon.  T.  H.  Phair,  .of  Presque  Isle,  is  the  largest 
starch  manufacturer  in  the  county.  He  owns  seven 
factories,  and  in  favorable  years  manufactures  up¬ 
wards  of  2,000  tons  of  starch.  This  starch  sells  in 
Boston  at  3%  to  5  cents  per  pound.  When  potatoes 
are  ripe  and  starch  sells  for  4%  cents,  the  manufac¬ 
turer  can  pay  25  cents  per  bushel  for  potatoes  and 
make  a  good  profit.  edwaro  wiggin. 
Tuberculosis  in  Dairy  Cows. 
Of  all  the  human  deaths  that  occur  in  the  world,  it 
is  reasonably  estimated  that  one  in  seven  is  due  to 
consumption  or  tuberculosis,  and  at  least  3,000,000 
persons  perish  from  it  every  year  out  of  the  population 
of  the  globe.  The  recent  remarkable  development  of 
bacteriology  has  directed  special  attention  to  the  infec¬ 
tious  nature  of  the  disease.  While  in  a  majority  of 
cases  the  fatal  infection  is  derived  from  human  beings 
afflicted  with  it,  it  has  been  amply  demonstrated  that 
in  many  cases  it  is  conveyed  to  man  from  tuberculous 
cows  through  the  medium  of  milk.  Although  in  large 
cities  precautions  have  been  taken  to  prevent  or  cur¬ 
tail  the  sale  of  adulterated,  watered  or  skimmed  milk, 
by  means  of  lactometer  tests,  there  is  no  practicable 
method  of  detecting  the  milk  of  consumptive  cows 
after  it  has  reached  the  city  for  delivery  to  consumers. 
Those  who  buy  can,  therefore,  be  protected  only  by 
sanitary  supervision  of  the  dairy  herds  at  the  sources 
of  supply,  and  by  the  eradication  of  the  disease  among 
them.  Investigation  has  shown  the  existence  of  tuber¬ 
culosis  in  some  of  the  dairy  herds  that  supply  milk  to 
the  large  cities  in  the  Eastern  States.  The  most 
notable  inquiries  of  this  kind  have  been  those  recently 
made  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boston  under  direction 
of  the  health  authorities  of  that  city  and  of  the  Massa¬ 
chusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture.  These  revealed 
the  prevalence  of  the  disease  on  dairy  farms  in  many 
towns  which  sent  milk  to  the  Boston  market. 
Aroused  by  the  Massachusetts  report,  the  people  of 
Maine  soon  discovered,  on  investigation,  that  some  of 
their  herds  had  been  infected  by  cows  imported  from 
eastern  Massachusetts,  and  for  some  months  enforced 
a  rigid  quarantine  against  cows  from  that  State  at  the 
points  of  entry.  Similar  precautions  were  taken  in 
New  Hampshire,  to  which  the  disease  had  been  im¬ 
ported  by  cows  from  the  vicinity  of  Boston.  Recent 
laws  in  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  Rhode  Island 
have  authorized  the  authorities  to  eradicate  the  dis¬ 
ease  wherever  discovered  by  slaughtering  infected 
animals.  In  Connecticut  the  authorities  have  fre¬ 
quently  issued  warnings  to  farmers,  but  no  adequate 
legislation  for  the  suppression  of  the  disease  has 
hitherto  been  enacted.  It  is  alleged  that  the  malady 
prevails  in  scores  of  the  herds  that  supply  milk  to  the 
Philadelphia  consumers,  but  no  effort  to  extirpate 
the  disease  or  prevent  the  sale  of  milk  from  infected 
cows  has  hitherto  been  made. 
The  New  York  State  Board  of  Health  has,  from 
time  to  time,  instituted  inquiries  as  to  the  reported  ex¬ 
istence  of  the  disease  in  certain  towns  which  supply 
milk  to  the  metropolis,  but  has  hitherto  been  unable 
to  do  anything  more  from  lack  of  adequate  powers. 
A  law  lately  enacted,  however,  and  now  in  force, 
gives  the  power  that  was  needed,  although  the  appro¬ 
priation  made  is  insufficient  to  effect  any  radical 
remedy  at  present.  The  new  law  provides  that  the 
State  Board  of  Health  shall  “use  all  reasonable  means 
for  ascertaining  the  existence  ”  of  the  disease  in  the 
State.  It  is  empowered  to  employ  as  many  veterin¬ 
arians  as  may  be  needed  for  inspecting,  isolating  and 
destroying  infected  cows.  Wherever  tuberculosis  may 
be  discovered,  the  board  must  “  take  measures  to  sup¬ 
press  said  disease  promptly,”  and  local  authorities  are 
required  to  enforce  the  board’s  orders  relating  to  the 
slaughter  of  affected  animals  and  the  prevention  of 
more  infection.  Any  one  refusing  to  comply  with  the 
board’s  orders  “  shall  be  guilty  of  misdemeanor,”  and 
will  be  liable  to  a  fine  of  $100.  “  The  actual  value  of 
the  animals  at  the  time  they  are  slaughtered  ”  may  be 
paid  to  the  owners  who  must  apply  to  the  Board  of 
Claims. 
Past  experience  in  similar  cases  indicates  that  the 
enforcement  of  this  law  will  not  be  popular  among 
those  likely  to  be  affected  by  it.  It  has  been  fre¬ 
quently  proved,  however,  that  consumption  has  been 
spread  among  the  consumers  of  milk  from  tubercu¬ 
lous  cows,  and  the  public  safety  has  from  time  imme¬ 
morial  been  the  highest  law.  Harsh  or  inconsiderate 
enforcement  of  the  new  law  should  not,  however,  be 
permitted  or  tolerated  ;  nor  should  the  officials  soon 
to  be  appointed  under  it  exaggerate  the  extent  of  the 
disease  to  afford  an  excuse  for  their  own  existence. 
Business  Bits. 
In  the  State  of  Michigan  to-day  are  abundant  chances  to  buy  farm 
lands  at  a  reasonable  figure.  These  lands  are  well  suited  for  farm 
purposes  and  are  well  timbered  and  easily  worked.  It  costs  as  much 
to  fence  a  prairie  farm  as  It  does  to  buy  one  In  Michigan.  Write  to 
0.  M.  Barnes,  land  commissioner,  Lansing,  Mich.,  for  particulars. 
Machine  Straw  Binders.— A  mistake  was  made  In  this  column 
recently  In  regard  to  a  new  machine  for  binding  rye  straw.  This  bind¬ 
ing  was  formerly  done  by  hand  entirely,  but  by  means  of  this  machine, 
the  rye  Is  thrashed,  and  at  the  same  time  bound  Into  neat  bundles, 
with  the  straw  straight  and  unbroken.  We  gave  a  wrong  address  for 
the  maker.  The  machine  Is  made  by  the  Butterworth  Thresher  Co., 
Trenton,  N.  J 
