Evening star., 1915-09-19
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT Is DOING

| Of potatoes that are thrown aside each
year to rot, for the lack OF profitable
market in their natural state. The
wasted potatoes are not only culls. but
also tubers Of good quality which for
| one reason or another cannot be mar
keted with profit.
In Germany. the greatest potato-pro-
been raised for years an excess of po-
| tatoes over the amount needed for hu-
man food. and the utilization OF the
surplus has been brought to hne
are distilled into industrial alcohol.
Other large amounts are made into
starch. and recently there has been
growing industry in the manufacture
of dried potato stock food.
4. In the United States there 10 little de-
mand for industrial alcohol because OF
the abundant supply Of petroleum. The
potato starch industry has been de-
proved to be of little profit because of
the competition of corn starch. 1t Is
to potato drying, therefore, that the
| government has turned as the most
simplest process by which the waste
tubers, now q total loss, may be
turned into valuable product. The
| bureau of chemistry of the Agricultural
DcpdI WHICH HAS Charge OI Inc
project. has Just completed an expert
mental plant at the department expert
mental farm at Arlington, Va. and has
installed the machinery In it's first
form. While 1t is believed that the
mechanism can be improved In several
respects, 1t has already been possible
to turn out a satisfactory product by a
simpler method than that employed in
Germany. The attempt will be made
to reduce the process to the simplest
possible point and to design plants
| that can be constructed and operated
with a relatively small capital in order
\ that they may be esta b1ished in con-
siderable numbers in, potato-producing
sections.
| Under the drying method. as so far
worked out by the bureau Of chemistry
experts, the potatoes are dumped into
washing machine. where foreign mat
ter is removed, and the clean tubers are
then carried by an elevator to a grind
er. where they are reduced to a semi
liquid pulp. The next step is the pas
| sage of the pulp through roller presses,
which remove much of the water. The
pressed pulp is then almost freed of
moisture in a drier. All the moisture
is not driven off. because under such
circumstances the product was found
to reabsorb moisture when exposed to
the air.
When the dried potato is delivered
| from the drier it is in irregularly
shaped fakes nearly two inches in
diameter. and is slightly dark. owing
| to the presence OF particles of skin.
The product is concentrated and nom
iperishable, and can be shipped profit
ably long distances, 1t is believed.
German scientific commissions have ex-
|Derimented with similar product and
have pronounced 1t to be an excellent
| food for fattening swine and cattle. If
the process can be worked out as sat
lisfactorily as the government experts
hope it can. 1t may result in the saving
of several hundred million dollars an
nual1y to farmers, as well as stimu-
lus to potato production and the de-
velopment of cattle and hog raising.
| Vest pocket Instruments for treating
snake bites. always possibilities among
the experiences that be-
A Snake Bite fall woodsmen. are to be
| a., furnished by the United
0ut1oote. States forest service to
it's field employees.
| The device when not in use is ap-
parently a plain wooden cylinder. about
the length of a cigarette and slightly
| larger in diameter, and has screw
cap on each end. When one of the caps
is removed there is disclosed small
lancet. with which the bitten part may
be quickly slit open. The other end of
the cylinder is hollow and contains a
supply of permanganate of potash
crystals, one of the most effective anti
| dotes for the poison of snakes fangs.
| The crystals are placed in the open
| wound as soon is possible after the bite
| is received, and become effective by
| dissolvinE and entering the blood.
| Similar instruments have been used
| regularly by the field force of the
! geological survey for several years and
| have In many cases been the means of
| saving life.
| The dangers to which forest workers
| are subjected of being bitten by poison
Gus reptiles are forcibly brought out in
a recent report to forest service head
: quarters in Washington from the
| Shastar national forest in northern
California. Three men, sent across the
| path OF recent fire to fight flames.
| found themselves completely surround
ed by scores of rattlesnakes that had
| been driven from their rocky lairs by
| the heat. 1t was necessary for the fire.
| fighters to turn snake fighters since
| they could neither advance nor retreat.
After six-hour battle all the reptiles
were killed and it was possible for the
forest employees to reach and extin-
guish the fire On this occasion not one
| of the men was bitten. but the forest
service records show that the woods
| men are not always nearly so fortu-
1 nate.
The United States is exporting ideas
| as well as merchandise. Report has
! just come through
Corn CLUB Idea consular agents that,
Exported. mnpaanss,, mpfesseu with with the
the corn clubs" in the United States
| in improving strains and increasing
yields. certain agricultural enthusiasts
of Brazil are planning to start the club
| system there. Heretofore Brazil has
produced a limited corn crop, which has
| been sufficient. however, for it's needs
! Now the growth of an important cattle
| industry in the great South American
| republic is creating a demand for more
| corn, and the agricultural authorities
are doing all that they can to improve
the quality and quantity of the crops
| The chief supporter of the corn club
| plan is Conde A. A. Barbiellini, editor
| of one of the leading agricultural Pc
| ridiocals of Brazil and a great admirer
| of American methods of agriculture
| The movement for the formation of
corn clubs was launched recently, the
| Department of Commerce has been in
| formed, at the first Brazilian national
corn exposition. 1t was held by an ag-
| ricultural society under the patronage
/ of the state minister Of aRrjcI,1ture of