The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1919-03-17

DRIED POTATOES
USED IN GERMANY
9 New Process of Preserva-
ton Adds Immensely
to Use for Food
EASILY TRANSPORTED
FOR LONG DISTANCES
Will Become an Important Factor il
International Trade-Internal Com
bustion Engine Fuel Can Be Made
from Potatoes.

bustion Engine Fuel Can Be Made |
from Potatoes.
The potato, past, present and future,
was the subject of lecture recently dc
livered in the educational department OF
the National City bank OF New York be
fore a class in international trade and
commercial geography.
We have all respected the potato, said
the lecturer, because it has been an ex
tremely important source of the daily
food supply of man in the occidental tenn
perate zones, next in Importance to wheat,
though in the tropics and the Orient il
has had little consideration thus far. AT
present, however, we see great possibili-
ties for it in international trade because
man has recently learned the art Of dry
ing the potato in a manner in which il
may be stored or transported long dis
tances for food for man or animals, just
as -four is now handled, while its future
may include the operation of our automo
bile, flying machines and farm motors,
and aid in the development of the tropics
which have been thus far undeveloped
because of the inability OF the horse 70
per 'orm service in the tropical climate.
Most of the 6,000000,000 bushels OF po.
tatoes produced in the world are grown
in Europe and North America, and rep
resent value of from $4,000 900 to
S5,0O0,000,000 per anum. They have up to
this time been Of comparatively little
Importance from The standpoint of inter
national commerce by reason of the diff
Guilty Of transportation and their compar
atively perishabe character. During the
recent war, however, Germany developed
The art o drying the potato in a manner
n which it could be kept indefinitely, and
transported as readily as wheat or -four
and the opportunity is thus offered to
enormously increase the production and
world distribution Of this important and
easily produced food supply for man and
beast. The number of factories for po-
tato drying in Germany increased from
in 1908 to about 1000 in 1918, and they
have an annual cEpacity for crushing so,
100000 tons of potatoes and turning them
into fakes or cubes for animal food and
various grades Of flour for human con
sumption
potato from its former perishable state
to one IN which it can be permanently
stored and easily transported, the worlds
great potatoproducing area. now chiefly
Europe and North America, may supply
a much greater quantity OF word food
than at present.
Equally important perhaps more so
continued the lecturer is the future Of
the potato in supplying motive power by
which man may develop that great un
developed area of the world, the tropics
and at the same time increase the trans
portaton facilities OF the temperate ION,
and reduce the number of food consuming
animals which this zone employs Care
iul students of the internal combustion
engine (Which would include the engines
OF automobiles, flying machines and farm
motors and others of similar character
have many of them reached the Conclu
sion that alcohol will prove not only
substitute for gasoline, but will in fac
render service superior to that of gaso
line when utilized with properly con
structed engine. Should the rapidly grow
ing demand for petroleum and it's varied
products require the world to turn t
some. other fuel for the internal com
bustion engine, it is at least comforting t,
know that we may produce alcohol from
potatoes at the rate OF from 200 to 40
gallons per acre, since the exnerts stat
that a bushe Of potatoes win nroduc
a gallon Of alcohol and it is well know
that potatoes can he grown at the rat
Of 200 bushels per acre in the Unite
States and 300 to 500 bushels per acr
in GERMANY WHICH country in fact Pre-
duces nearly onethird of the potatoes c
the world where attention has especial
been given to the production of the a
cohol potato
The number of horses in the world t
day, said the lecturer, is about l40, 900 .0t
and they require for their sustenanc
enough land to produce food for 300. 900
600 people If we can substitute the il
ternal combustion engine for the hors
we shall not only, develop that great III
develoned area, the tropics, where ii
horse is unable 10 perform service. bt
also release for The PRODUCTION Of foe
for man in enormous araas now utilized
producing food for horses which wi
then no longer be required