The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-03-13
POTATO STARCH.
An Industry Which COmmends Itself to
Northwestern Farmers.

an industry Which COmmendS Itself to
Northwestern Farmers.
The amount of potato starch annually
used in this country is very large and
the quantity required is constantly in
creasing. 1t is used as an article of
food by persons who can not obtain
potatoes, by brewers and confectioners.
1t is employed for sizing new cotton
cloth and to some extent for giving
stiffness and a smooth surface to gar
ments that have recently been washed.
1t is also used in connection with other
articles for making coating for the
cloth covering for hams, shoulders,
bacon and dried beef A very large
proportion of the potato starch used in
the United States is imported from
Germany and other countries on the
continent of Europe. A recent inves-
tigation showed that about half a mill
ion pounds of potato starch Of foreign
manufacture passed through the Chi
cago custom-house nndcr another name
without the payment of duties. There
appears to be no reason why all the
potato starch used in this country can
not be produced here. Germany pos
sesses no special advantages for
producing potatoes or for the man
ufacture of starch. The extraction
Of starch from potatoes, and the drying
and subsequent preparation of it are
very simple processes. During the war
with England in 1912 many families in
this country manufactured the starch
they used. The manufacture of starch
| from potatoes, conducted in farm
| houses, led to the construction of fact
cries in New England at the close of
the war. The Introduction of railroads
and the appearance of the Colorado
| potato beetle caused potatoes to become
| high in most portions of the New En-
| gland States and resulted in closing up
most of the old potato starch factories.
| The impOverishment of the soil in the
sections longest settled resulted in re-
ducing the yield of the tubers from
which the starch was made.
At present the manufacture of potato
starch in this country is limited almost
entirely to Aroostook County, in the
extreme northern portion of Maine
The yield of potatoes there is very
large, as the soil is rich and the climate
favorable to their production. Owing
to the distance from large towns and
the lack of cheap transportation, it is
more profitable to make starch from
the potatoes than to send them to
market. The town of Presque Isle,
ArOostOok County, is the great center
of the potato-starch industry. The larg-
est potato-starch factory in the world is
located there. worksup about 800, 900
bushels of potatoes annually. There are
| some twenty-five other factories in the
vicinity. The cost of building there
for factory of a capacity for working
up $500 bushels of potatoes per day is
from 81, 800 to So, 900. The cost of the
machinery is from $500 to $4,000.
Lumber, however, is very cheap, rough
boards suitable for starch factory sell
ing for eight dollars per thousand.
Farmers generally receive twenty cents
per bushel for potatoes delivered at the
factory. The bushel is sixty-three
pounds. From this quantity of pota-
toes nine or ten pounds of dry starch
are made. No value is attached to the
pulp from which the starch has been
| taken.
Apparently the manufacture of starch
from potatoes could be profitably in
troduced into Minnesota or Dakota. The
soil and climate are very favorable for
the production of potatoes, while the
cost of sending them to market is great.
The raising of potatoes could be very
advantageously carried on in connec-
ton with the production of wheat. At
ter the season for cutting grass and
harvesting wheat there is abundant
time for digging potatoes. 1t is much
easier to raise potatoes on large scale
on prairie where there are no stumps
or stones than in region where they
are common. A good supply of nearly
pure and quite cool water is necessary
for the running of a potato-starch fac
tory. 1t is much cheaper to operate it
by steam than by water. Minnesota
and Dakota appear to have all the nat
ural requirements for the production
of potato starch. With the low price
of wheat, this neglected industry is
worthy of examination Chicago Times