The Red Cloud chief., 1880-11-25
Indian Corn n Q Starch Crop.

IT IL interesting % note from time To
time how essiy Indian corn retains iis
supremacy among American Geld crops
and how widely aud In what varied ds-
rections - influence IL felt The COM
pzratiysly recent extended use Of corn
as q commercial source Of starch. and
Of glucose, shows perhaps more clearly
than anything else tbs mart Of the
crop. and serves 20 define with = con-
siderable degree Of precision tbs place
and standing OF corn Is compared with
the other products u American agri-
culture.
I, is not many years since the potato
wa ~extolled rs capable VI producing,
upon a given area OF land. more nuir.-
tive matter than any other crop; bot,
as anal is shows. the merit of the po-
tato j, IN great part due 10 the starch
which is contained in IL in large pro-
portion. Yet the statistics Of American
commerce show that. considered As a
sort Of merchantable starch land glu-
cose). corn has become much more I'M
portant than the potato. In n word.
the potato. when put in competition
with maize. has failed TO justly itself at
the very point where the natural supe-
rioriiy of the potato would have seemed
TO be the strongest. 1t may be said, in
passing. that the old notion Of the SUI
pcriority Of the potato among nuiritiye
crops vas disproyed year, ago, aud in
no way more clearly than b. the hog
crop Of America, which. a every one
knows, could not possibly be produced
by potatoes alone, though readily raised
upon corn.
1t is true enough that the potato has
for many years suffered more or less
from disease and has been greatly dis
credited on account % ITS liability TO
the attacks of the rot-fungus, 10 say
nothing of the Colorado beetle, but
these considerations make IL appear
only the more clearly that the failure OF
the potato TO holdits waywith maize must
be due to its real inferiority as n crop.
under the conditions OF soil, labor and
climate, which obtain in this country.
The yearly production OF millions Of
pounds of starch and Of glucose, from
Indian corn; and the constantly incrcas-
ing consumption and export Of these
products point clearly 10 the conclusion
tina. rs n source Of these materials the
potato has been beaten IN the race. IL
is true, of course. that n great deal Of
potato starch continues 10 be made in
some parts of the country. Indeed,
potato starch is even now quoted in the
market reports rs selling for Il cent
more per pound than corn starch. aud
there is little doubt that for some par
ticular purposes it is better suited than
the other kinds of starch. Potato
starch still profits. withal, to certain
extent from its old reputation, and from
the fact that it (and not corn starch) is
specified to be used in many receipts
employed In household economy and
by manufacturers. But for the great
general uses to which starch is put. and
notably for making glucose and "corn
sirup." the product obtained from corn
stands prc-eminent.
All this. like the current export Of
cattle and grain to Europe. marks one
particular phase Of American agricul-
tare. Ii is n more item, among
many, going to prove the Immediate adj
vantage of our system OF extensive"
farming. That is 10 say. the system of
growing small crops ut little cost.
1t is not At all unlikely that, even
with n climate like ours, the potato
might hold its own against maize as n
starch-producing crop, in countries
where high farming is practiced; for as
much starch can be got out of 2jO bush
els of potatoes as from 80 bushelSsof
corn; and. taking one year with an
other, il would be easier on the whole
to raise $50 bushels Of potatoes to. the
acre than 50 bushels of corn, and easier
still to increase this Weld of potatoes
than to increase this yield of corn. IL
is true, in fact. that in Germany large
quantities of starch and of glucose are
made every year from potatoes, al
though corn succeeds well enough in
the southern parts of that country, and
admirably in many parts of Austria and
Italy. But here in America, experience
has shown that, under u system of
farming, corn has a certain advantage
over the potato. Ii il be admitted, for
example, that it is rs easy TO get 40
bushels of corn to the acre from the
generality of our American farms as to
get 100 bushels of potatoes, then corn
will take the precedence as IA source of
starch. for the average yield of starch
per bushel from corr and from potatoes
is rated at - pounds and eight pounds
respectively. Even if it he supposed
that it is as easy to grow $50 bushels of
potatoes as 80 bushels of corn, the po-
tatoes would give only 1,2O0 pounds of
starch while the corn would give 1880
pounds.
The superiority of cor over pota-
toes, rs a starch producer, under the
conditions which control American az
riculture, was shown years ago in very
much the same way, though not quite
SO clearly, when the distllation of spirit
from corn came TO prevail in this eoun-
try instead of the German practice of
distilling from potatoes. The spirit is
derived from the starch in either case.
and it NAV be said in generalterms that
the crop best fitted for producing starch
cheaply will be best suited for distilla-
tion.-Prof. +. II. StOrer, IN Rurdl
New Yorker. 4 -