Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-08-29
P0TATO.DRYING IN GERMANY
New and Profitable Use of That staple
Crop Ger stock Food, as "Schnit-
xeI' and "FIOcken."
(From the Scientific American)

has sprung up in Germany which has al
ready become of large commercial Inn
portance, namely, the drying of potatoes
for stock food This Is done in potato
drying factories that are rapidly increas-
ing in all parts of the empire. How rapid
this increase has been is shown by the
fact that in 1907 there were about 118 such
factories in Germany. and last year
there were 404 In operation, notwithstand-
ing the fact that in that time the potato
crop of Germany was the poorest they
have had for many seasons and the price
unusually high.
Germany grows nearly five times as
many bushels OF potatoes as the United
States. They produce on the average two
and one-half times as large an area and
the yield Is twice as much per acre. In
fact, only two other crops. those Of rye
and oats. surpass the potato crop in
acreage In Germany. In America pota-
toes are grown exclusively for human
food, but not SO in Germany immense
quantities are grown for Industrial pur-
poses and used for manufacturing starch
and denatured alcohol and for drying. all
Of which are important industries. The
market quotations are given regularly
for potatoes for eating purposes and po-
tatoes for manufacturing purposes and
the price Of the latter, as a rule, Is about
two-thirds that of the former.
Much attention is given to breeding po-
tatocs for starch content, and experiment
stations are maintained in the various
provinces to test the different varieties
for yield Of potatoes, yield of starch per
acre as well as per cent. OF starch con-
tent. The test this past season of 15
varieties showed a variation in the per
cent of starch content in the different
varieties grown under the same condi-
tions of from IL per cent. to % per cent.
The Germans have paid particular at
tention to developing the starch content
OF the potato in order to increase its val
ne for manufacturing purposes and In
doing frequently lose in size Of tubers
and yield per acre
The development of the potato drying
industry has been the result Of over-pro-
duction and low prices. With such large
areas grown. as Is the case in Germany
in years of good crops there Is a large
over production. In such years formerly
the farmers were obliged to accept ruin
| cusy low prices for their crops and were
at the mercy of the potato merchants
carried over from one year to the next
as Is the case with grains. 1t Is easily
frozen and when once frozen is ruined,
so that the disposition of surplus In a
| good crop year was a serious problem.
| For some years the Germans had been
! drying the sugar beet pulp from the SUI
! gar factories (after the sugar had been
extracted and using 1t as stock food.
| This gave rise to the suggestion Of using
| the surplus potatoes in the same way.
J This would not only utilize the surplus,
| but would preserve it in a form in which
It could be held Indefinitely and stored
| without danger of freezing. 1t would al
so take the surplus off the market and
insure a reasonable price for the rest Of
the crop.
The government and the agricultural Or
ganzations offered large prizes in the lat
ter part of the 9o's for the most success
full methods Of preserving potatoes. both
for human and stock food. AS result
n large number Of methods and kinds of
apparatus were offered. so that It can be
said by 1900 entirely successful methods
had been perfected.
There are two types of drying appa-
ratus on the market. The one produces
the so-caled potato "schnitzel." which
| is made by shredG.ng the raw potato in
to pieces about as thick as a small lead
pencil ana drying it under very intense
| heat. The other produces what is known
as potato "flocken' flakes. In this lat
ter method the potatoes are first cooked
| by steamng and then mashed and dried
by passing between hot rollers by steam
Since the rollers are placed near to one
another, the mass passes between like a
sheet of paper The heat causes them
to adhere to the exterior walls OF the
rollers and the motion Is so regula tee
that they are completely dried before the
rollers have half completed the revolution
Two knives on the outside of the rollers
cut off the dried mass which has a bright
yellowish white appearance. good smell
and forms coarse sort of potato meal.
In the drying of the raw potatoes. the
shredded pieces are first exposed to very
great temperatures, often as high as 100
degrees centigrade QS32 degrees Fahren'
heiU. as they are carried slowly through
a long chamber with the temperature con
stantly decreasing. When they go into
the drying chamber as raw potatoes they
contain IS to so per cent water. and wher
they come out as the dried product Of
"schnitzel' they contain l. to 10 per cent
water. In the manufacture of the fiocker
such high temperatures are not necessary
as the potatoes are first cooked, but whel
finished they contain approximately tn
same amount of water as the schnitzel
The dried potatoes both schnitzel an,
focken. are used as food for horses. cat
tie, sheep and swine. and have come T.
he an important product on the marke
and are regularly quoted in all marke
reports, The potato flocken Is preferred
, as It Is moro digestible. and of the 4C
factories in operation last year, 3l4 wer
equipped TO manufacture focken. Tha
may be due in part to the fact that
does not cost as much to install an ap
paratus to manufacture potato fiocken a
| it does not manufacture schnitzel On tn
other hand. after the equipment has bee
installed, the potato schnitzel can b
5 manufactured more cheaply than tn
r nocken. The Germans count that It cost
, 81 to $50 per ton of fresh potatoes t
, dry them in the form Of schnitzel and
: to $3.50 per ton to dry them In the forr
, of hocken.
Although dried potatoes may be use
for all classes of live stock, as mat
a ter OF fact they are used principally a
[ the present time for swine. Experiment
r and practical experience have proved tina
dried potatoes may be used almost entire
" to replace corn In the ration. and thi
I is of decided advantage to German,
since all the corn that is used has to b
imported.
4 AL