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175

may be waſhed as often as it preſents itſelf; it is then placed on the horſe- hair ſieve as faſt as they get it, and water is Poured on fufficiently, to force the flour through: what remains on the ſieve is the pulpous parenchyma of 8 the root, deprived of the fecula, of which we are ſpeaking. This matter is very nutritive, may be boiled in water, and cattle fed with it. It is an object of conſequence worthy of fome attention, particularly when it is performed ôn a large ſcale, becauſe about ſeven-eighths of this matter re- mains, which fhould not be loſt.

The firſt ſepgration of the pulp, by the horſe-hair ſieve, is very handy to get rid ſpeedily of a large quantity of the pulp: if a little paſſes through the fieve, it forms its depoſit in the laſt inſtance on the ſurface of the flour,

and gives it a dirty tinge: but this need not give any uneafineſs, as, being

of a more groſs nature than the flour, it is caſily ſeparated therefrom, by means of the filken ſieve above mentioned.

2

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SORTS.

In Berwickſhire, ſome gardeners raiſe potatoes from flips, or fide- branches of the ftems, cut or tore off from under ground, and planted; but the crop had in this way is late and unproductive, and is practiſed as a matter of curioſity rather fhan of real uſe. M. Papers gf the Board.

In the ſame fhire, an excellent ſort known under the name of Tro Spaniſp Potatoe, which ſeems to be near akin to the beſt Kidney, was introduced from a few given by the Spaniſh Ambaſſador to David Hume, the cele- brated hiſtorian, and ſent by him to his friends in Scotland. They came originally, it is faid, from the Spaniſh Main. MS. Papers of ibe Board.

*

Ue wbhen frozen. As the froſt affe ts only the water in the potatoes, and not ar all the

ſtarch, the latter may equally be extracted, and will be found as white and good as if not frozen ſa), provided they are not quite deſtroyed.

(²) Pafmentier Traité de Pommes de Terre, p. 292.