Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1907-05-30
Composition of the Potato.


ash.
took potatoes from North Carolina to
his estate in Ireland about the year
1886.
Many amusing stories are written
regarding the attempts to use the
plant as food, and while these stories
may not be entirely authentic they
are interesting The seed potatoes
| were distributed among Sir Raliegh's
tenants without instruction as to what
part of this new world food was to
be eaten. When the potatoes came
up the high green tender looking tops
were taken to be some kind of salad
plant but they were not found relish
able in a raw state. AS the tops grew
larger it was supposed they were to
be used as green's and SO were stewed
One can readily imagine the house
keepers disgust at the diSagreeable
dish. When the balls appeared on the
tops of the plant the people were sure
they had found the proper part OF the
plant to eat. However, when many OF
them were made i'll by eating stewed
potato balls, they abandoned all at
tempts to cultivate the strange new
food. After a time the tubers were
discovered, but as there was a popu-
lar belief that the plant was poison
Gus many years elapsed before they
were cultivated as an article of food
Even then the potato came into favor
slowly and nearly two centuries
| passed by before this much despised
product of the western world was
served as part of the daily diet Of the
common people.
Botanically the white potato be
| longs to the Solanum or poison Night
Shade family, and is related to the to-
mato and egg plant, as they belong to
the same family.
The potato gives a slight indication
that there is bad blood" in the fam
quantity of poison acid in its juices
chiefly in the skin The poison called
| Solanin is, however, readily dissipated
by heat.
The potato contains a large amount
of starch that has a commercial value
aside from its food value. This potato
starch is used in the manufacture of
| glucose, used in syrups and confec.
tionery, in the manufacture Of alcohol
and in the preparation of British gum
found on the backs of labels
In certain parts of Bolivia, the
small wild potato is gathered by the
natives, allowed to freeze and then
dried. When bone dry these potatoes
are pounded into a meal, which is
moistened to dough and then baked
in thin cakes on hot stones.
In Russia and other European coun-
tries potatoes are dried and ground
into a -four that is mixed with rye,
barley. millet, or peas, in the making
of bread.
The food value of the potato lies
chiefly in the starch it contains. The
following table gives the percentage
composition of the white potato:
Water. per cent. $50
Protein, or muscle building food, per
cent. ''''''''''' .''''' e.
Starch, or energy IOOu, per cent. lo.u
Fat energy food, per cent. co.
Mineral matter, builds bone, per cent. 10
The accompanying cut taken from
farmers bulletin, issued at Wash
ington, shows more clearly than the
figures do the relative amounts of the
different substances found in the
average white potato.
1t will be clearly seen that the po
tato can not be called complete
food. as there is but little material to
build and repair muscular tissue.
If potatoes alone were eaten the
average adult would require about IL
pounds daily to secure the needed
amount of muscle building food.
The potato is almost entirely want
ing in fat. In order to make the po-
tato a desirable article Of diet it must
be eaten with such foods as meat fish,
eggs. milk or cheese to supply the
needed proteid and fat. The pioneer
dish of baked potatoes and milk sup
plies all the material necessary to
nourish the body. 1t will be seen from
the composition of the potato that 1t
is not suitable food for the almost eX-
elusive use of little child at the
period of most rapid growth. The
little one is building muscular tissue
as we'll as replacing that worn out by
exercise and needs much larger pro
portion of proteid than the potato sup
plies. If, however, the child takes
plenty of milk there will be no lack OF
muscle building food in its diet.