EDITORIAL. 
POTATO FLOUR. 
Extraordinary development has taken place in Great Britain since 
the outbreak of war in the industrial use of potatoes. Under the direc- 
tion of the British Farina Mills Limited a number of factories are 
being established in suitable agricultural centres for the manufacture 
of potato flour or farina. Each will be able to deal with 1,500 tons 
of potatoes per week, and already one or two are in operation. The 
special importance of this innovation to the agricultural industry is 
that a constant and steady market is assured to the grower, and a pro- 
fitable means is also provided him of disposing of injured and even 
diseased potatoes. ‘The value of damaged potatoes is assessed in rela- 
tion to the starch contents of the portion of the tubers which are sound. 
Farina is principally used by the textile trades, and large supplies are 
also required for the manufacture of dextrine, and various classes of 
gums and other products of a like nature. In addition there are 
many uses for it amongst manufacturing chemists, some of these being 
the production of artificial sago and grape sugar. Prior to the war 
potatoes were used extensively in Germany, Holland, and in Japan for 
industrial purposes. 5 
CHEMISTRY OF POTATO FLOUR. 
Mr. H. W. Richards, in the October Journal of the Board of Agri- 
culture, contributes an interesting article upon the manufacture of 
farina from potatoes. Contrary to the impression usually conveyed 
by the term “potato flour,” he points out this product does not consist 
' of potatoes dried and pulverized, but is the pure starch separated from 
the rest of the potato, and called farina. “The part played by starch 
in the life activity of the potato is cf great interest. The substance is: 
built up by the wonderful chemistry of nature from the simplest con- 
stituents of food and water drawn from the plants environment. For 
the purpose of transport in the sap it is readily changed into the form 
of sugar, which is soluble, and can be conveyed to one part for growth 
and to ‘another part for storage in reserve. In the latter case it is 
deposited as starch grains of microscopic size. This explanation 
makes clear the advantage in allowing the haulm to die down before. the 
potato crop is lifted, so that the sap may be withdrawn to the tubers, and 
there deposit its strength as grains of starch.” Mr. Richards explains 
that by means of auxiliary plant in these mills the potato residues, 
which still contain a valuable part of the nourishment, can be prepared 
as a feed for animals in a greatly improved form. Manufactured in 
a cooked and concentrated form it will keep in store indefinitely, and 
will prove a more digestible and healthy food than the raw potato, beside 
having a wider range of use. 
BREAD FROM POTATO FLOUR. 
Whether the time has arrived for Australia to consider the per- 
manent establishment of a potato flour industry on a large scale is 
obviously a matter of economics. With the continuance of such a 
lucrative market for potatoes for purely domestic consumption awaiting 
19 
