The Sun.
London, England, 1827-08-24 00:00:00

THE MARKETS.-(THIS DAY.)

CORN EXCHANGE.

Hardly any English Wheat appeared for sale this morn-
ing, the stands being cleared last Wednesday, and prices
must be considered full as high as on Monday last. For
Barley and Beans more money was asked, but there was so
little of these articles here that the prices could not
be exactly ascertained. We had several parcels of
new Lincolnshire Oats fresh Up ; some were fine,
but others were inferior and light ; both Englishland Foreign
maintained fully last Monday and Wednesday's terms,
though the demand was limited.

English -
Irish

Foreign

ARRIVALS.
Wheat. I •Barley. Oats. I Flour.
4,370 qrs. 50 qrs. I 1,1.50 qrs. s,looscks,

4,050

2,450

14,030

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

TATTERSALL'S..—Auc. 23.

A very numerous attendance took place this day, but
very little was done. The Members seemed attending more
to form their judgment than to make up their books, and
every word from the wise men of the north was caught up
With anxiety by the uninitiated. Nothing, however,
transpired with regard to changes. .Ivory horse seems to
stand his ground, and even the Old Boy seems to 'puzzle
the clearest. Several cross bets were made, but none of
any altering influence. The Tollowing list will be found
correct up to the close :

ST. LEGER.
al to 1 agst Malek
30 to 1 agst Reviewer
30 to 1 agst Antiope
40 to 1 agst Olivera (taken)
40 to 1 agst Popsy (taken)
40 to 1 agst Laurel
50 to 1 agst Moonshine (taken)
50 to 1 agst Pelican

3 to 1 agst Mamelnk°
4 to 1 agst Granby
15 to I agst Nonplus (taken)
18 to 1 agst Sancho
20 to 1 agst Lunaria
20 to 1 agst Matilda
25 to 1 agst Medora
25 to 1 agst Translation
25 to 1 agst Lumley's colt
9 to 1 agst Nonplus
6 to 4 Lumley's agst

and _Matilda (taken)
t Laurel (taken).

BURDEROP RACES.—THURSDAY, AUG.
'LORD' BRUCE, Steward.
Mr. Was. BELCHER, Clerk of the Course.
A Gold Cup, value 100 sovs., the remainder in specie, by
' subscription of 10 sovs. each. Three miles.
Lord Palmerston's Luzborough, aged ...(C: Day) 1
Mr. Gordon named Lawrence, 3 yrs 2
Marquis of Ailesbury's Brother to Barefoot, 4 yrs 3
Mr. Goddard's ch. c. by Anticipation,' 3 yrs' 4
A Purse of 50 sovs. by subscription. Heats, three miles.
Mr. Goddard's by Anticipation...(A. Pavis) 4
Mr. King named Lawrence 2
A Silver Cup; the gift of T. Caney, Esq.,' added to a sub-
scription of 5 soya. each. Heats, two miles.
Mr. Frampton's b. h. Burton, 5 yrs ...(Cowley) I
Mr. Bladen's b. g. by L'Orient, 4 yrs 2

POTATOE FLOUR.

ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE QUALITY
AND INCREASING THE QUANTITY OF FOOD.

Every country which depends chiefly on po-,
tatoes for fbod must be frequently exposed to
scarcity, because the surplus of one year's crop:
cannot be preserved to supply the deficiency of
another, as in the. case of grain. The extreme
poverty of our people has compelled them to,
subsist almost entirely on this root for several.
, .
years, and has therefore become an: object of
the highest importance to discover a remedy- for.
the above defect. Since the famine which pre-
vailed' in Ireland in the year 1821, I haie 'paid
great attention to this subject, and I found that
this purpose might be accomplished in various
ways ; but the conversion of potatoes into flour
I consider far superior in utility to any other
means. By many experiments I found that po-
tatoes, of good quality,' will afford about a fourth
part of their weight of this flour, if carefully pre-
pared, and of the same degree of dryness with
common flour. Fourcroy says it yields a
fifth, Some chemists say less, and others say
more ; and it is notorious that a large portion of
_what is sold in our shops under the name of ar-
row root is actually this flour manufactured at
home. .Accuni stated this many years ago, and
medical men are quite aware of the fact ; nor is
the purchaser injured by this deception, the one
being in all respects precisely the same with the
other, .of which any body may satisfy himself
by comparing: them. I have very often known
persons whOhad long been accustomed to the use of
arrow root in the West Indies, take the potatoe ,
flour in its stead, without ever suspecting any diffe-
rence, nor is there indeed any. The two roots are
natives of the same country,. and entirely of the
same quality ; they are alsosapplied there to the
same purpose, arrow root being used for starch
as well as the potatoe flour. This flour is ad-
mirably adapted for commercial purposes, from
its great value in small bulk, and it may be kept
without damage for a great length of time. I.
happen to have known it preserved for eight
years without any change whatever. This article,
has long been used by several respectable families
in the Highlands of Seotlnd, as a substitute`
for wheaten flour, on a small scale, for curiosity,:
though it has never been turned to any public
advantage as food,' so far as I kuow. I have
myself, however, used it fora considerable tuner
in my own house in
.large quantities with great:
satisfaction, for puddings, pancakes, and all sorts
of pastry. It is incomparably good ; boiled in
milk, or water coloured with milk, it makes ex-
cellent food,.and mixed with a small portion of
common' flour, with eggs, or even with mashed'
potatoes, it makes the finest loaf bread ; and im-1
provements in cooking it will' no doubt be daily
made. In short, it is in all respects superior to
wheaten flour, and 'equal to arrow root. The'
enormous quantity of potatoes which the stomach:,
receives, and which the system requires for'
nourishment, when it is the sole food, cannot:
fail to injure that organ ; and diseases of
that class have therefore become very fre-
quent of late years, to the unspeakable . dis-
, tress of the lower orders. On weighing the
measure of potatoes usually allotted for a la-
bourer's meal, I found it amounted to six
pounds, and from that I procured a pound and
a half of flour, which afforded eight break—
fasts for, my own use, each consisting of two
table spoonfuls of the flour boiled in a pint of
milk. This very interesting fact may give us
some idea of the importance of this subject
Here we have many wholesome, delicious,
nourishing, nay, luxurious meals, from one very
bad one ; in consequence of the very familiarand
easy process which the material had undergone,
the worst of all human food is converted intd
the very best. The average produce of an
,acre
of land under potatoes over the United Kingj
dom, cultivated by the spade, maybe calculated
at from 150 to 200 barrels, 'or from'l4 to 18
tons, which will yield from 3 to 4+ tolls of
flour, or from fifty to seventy bolls of 140 pounds'
each. Now our best land under wheat will not
average above six or eight bolls an acre. The;
return of flour from wheat is very 'various.'
(Arthur Young says that the average produce of
England is about twenty-two bushels an acre.)
When we add to this the superior quality of this,
flour, we have here an advantage almost too great
for the mind to conceive. Immense as the ad..:
vantage is, however, it is unquestionably true, as
may be easily proved, by the infallible test of ex-:
pernnent, which all, even the poorest, can easily:
make, and to which they are earnestly entreated
to have recourse. The annual expence of sup-
porting the poor of England and Wales cannot
be short of eight millions, including every shape
in which charity .is bestowed. Under this
system, let an acre of land and the milk of a cow
be assigned to every four poor, families ; with,
these, and a few hens, they may live comfort-:
ably. To breakfast and supper they may have.
this flour boiled in milk, 'and to dinner, by
the addition of eggs, they may have pudding
or p.ancakes, while they themselves may culti-
vate the ground. This is stated as one of the
innumerable blessings which may flow from this.
improvement. If the yearly produce of thd
United Kingdom be worth several hundred mil-
lions, as political calculators assert, what must
be the value of that discovery which increase
that produce many fold ? By the due cultiva-
tion of this system, in the short space of two
years, Great Britain and Ireland, instead of de.'
pending on other countries for food, may supply
•the greater part of Europe ; and even China
would maintain many times itspresent population,
According to the usual price of potatoes, the
boll of this flour will cost about seven shillings,.
or fourteen shillings the sack ; 'the pound will;
cost about a half-penny, and half a pound is
about the average consumpt of a family. Now;
this is the very same article which the rich and:'
luxurious presently enjoy, and actually consumel
in large quantities, at the exorbitant price of 2s.'
the pound, or 281. the sack, under the fore' gn
name of arrow root, and we have lately seen it at'
double that price ; while all this benefit is ob-
tained without any expence whatever. Perhar
there is no process more universally known than
themanufacture of this flour under the appella:
Lion of potatoe starch. By means of a barrel
lined with sheet-iron grating, placed on ,an axle
horizontally, like a butter churn, the women and
children of a family may prepare any quantity of
The pulpy mass may be filtered
this flour, and this barrel will supply fifty or
sixty families, at an expence of less than a shil-
li„geach.
through the milk-strainer, or' a - coarse cloth,
dilutingit plentifully with soft water'; it may be
dried on linen or on boards in the sun's rays,
01
in an oven over a slow fire, stirring it -frequently.
and sifted, all of them laborious, tedious, and some
Corn must be thrashed, fanned, kiln-dried, ground,
in the course of three 6.
parse expence, and it
four hours after. the root is dug from the ground,
mfio foauyrm
thembe
auyvseberdey expensive operations, while potatoe
pfoaroectd without any