The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-10-09
POTATOES IN NEW GUIsEs
Flour, Starch, Ensilage and Dried Flakes Made
 from TuberS.

In a country the size of the United complete failure in all regions in any one season, except such crops as are sectional, as cotton, sugar cane, and in some degree, wheat and corn. Such a crop as potatoes, which is grown successfully in almost every state in the Union and flourishes in climates ranging from Maine to the Far South Is almost sure to produce in the ag- Etegate all that the nations 100000 900 population will need.
 But that does not mean, particular ly in war times, when transportation is scarce and high, that all the inhab- itants will have ample supplies of po- tatoes at reasonable prices, or that the farmer with a bumper crop in the far west, where all his neighbors are likely to be as we'll served by na- ture, will be better off than the Maine farmer who may have half a crop or less the same season. Often a bum per crop has been the undoing of all the growers in a state, when local prices dropped far below the cost of the fertilizer used, to say noth- ing of seed, labor, interest on in vestment, etc, The potato does not lend itself well to long shipments in | Winter, though potatoes. have been ! brought from Europe and sent from America to Ireland, hence the diff culty of distributing a crop to the re- giois where it is needed.
 Bpt modern methods and devices are ] rapidly overcoming this mumper crop I d 4 complacency upon any flood of tu- bers his fields may bring forth. This i changed condition has been very largely brought about by the war and it's demands for foods and substitutes for foods. Potato flour was almost unknown In America four years ago, except by fancy bakers and expensive hotels and restaurants where 1t was used in producing pastry novelties. And when the little that was used bore the package imprint. Made in Germany"
 MT. Hoover's call to the food pur- veyors and consumers to use what substitutes brought potato flour into
 notice, and the demand thus created
 has resulted In not a few potato flour mills being built and others projected in regions noted for their potato
 yields.
 Potato starch is another compara- lively new article of commerce, cas- fly produced and useful in many cu-
 linary processes. But perhaps the greatest innovation for saving pota-
 toes is the introduction of drying o1 tdehydrating on large scale. Scar
 city of shipping has moved the Gov
 ernment to use dehydrated potatoes
 exclusively for it's forces in Europe
 and millions of pounds of the dried
 tubers, all ready to be eaten with the
 mere addition of a little water, have
 been sent abroad the past year. Fruit
 and vegetable canners and drying es-
 tablishments that formerly dried only
 fruits have found that their plant!
 are suited to drying potatoes and tha
 by adding potatoes to their outpu
 they may keep their factories in op eration practically throughout tn, year where formerly theirs was a best only a seasonal business. An
 other great advantage of the dehy drated potato is that 1t keeps almos
 indefinitely and the surplus of a bis
 crop year can be shared and kep , against lean years. The bulk ant weight are reduced to about one tenth of the original tuber so tha the product can be shipped for mucl
 less than before to markets wher, there is a heavy demand.