again from the same seed: and, lastly, salt is said to be an excellent preventive against the depredations of the grub.
Beside the curl, potatoes are liable to two other disorders, viz. the scab, which consists of excrescences that arise in very dry seasons; and the canker, which is occasioned by small cavities, that appear in wet weather. These defects have been conjectured to be in some measure the cause of the curl; and they increase, according to the length of time the potatoes remain in the earth, after the roots have attained to maturity.
The proper time for digging up potatoes, is in the dry weather of autumn, when the leaves and stems begin to decay. If they are cultivated on a small scale, this work is performed by means of a three-pronged fork, furnished with flat tines: but, when raised in fields, the roots are turned up by a plough, the coulter of which is taken out, to prevent them from being cut. After those, which appear on the surface, are collected, a pair of drags is passed over the whole; in order to separate and expose such as may adhere to the clods.
The potatoe is one of the most valuable roots for culinary uses: when boiled, it forms a principal article of food, and serves partly as a substitute for bread. Mixed with wheaten flour, fermented with yeast, and properly baked, it makes a wholesome and nutritious loaf:—the most economical method of preparing these roots, we have already stated, vol. i. p. 330.
To render this Dictionary of Facts, as complete as its nature will admit, we shall here subjoin a description of a valuable machine:
M. Baume's Mill for grinding Potatoes, of which we have given an engraving, from the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences at Paris.
Fig. 1. Represents a grater made in a cylincrical shape, of plate-iron, which is about 7 inches in diameter, and 8 inches in height. The burs, formed by stamping the holes, are on the inside.
A, A, A, are three feet, made of flat iron bars, 7 inches in height, for supporting the grater, to which they are strongly rivetted. The bottom of each foot is bent horizontally, and furnished with a hole for the reception of a screw, delineated at A, Fig. 3.—At a little distance from the upper extremity of these feet, is fastened a cross piece, B, (Fig. 1 and 3), which is divided into three branches, and rivetted to them. This transverse piece not only serves to strengthen and keep such feet steady, but its centre being perforated with a hole, also supports an iron spindle (Fig. 2), the use of which will be presently described.
The upper part of this cylindrical grater is furnished with a diverging border of iron, marked with the letter C, (Fig. 1 and 3), and which is about 10 inches in diameter at the top, and 5 inches high. Farther, within such machine is fixed a second grater of a conical form (see Fig. 3); which is constructed of thick plate-iron, and fastened with the broad end at the bottom. The burs of the holes are on the outside: to the upper end of the cone, there is rivetted a small cross piece of iron, consisting of three branches; and in the middle of which a square hole is made for the reception of the spindle. This part of the cone is likewise strengthened with an iron cap rivetted to
