Water, 78.9% Starch, 18%

Proteid, 2.1% Mineral matter, .9%

Fat 1.%

POTATOES stand pre-eminent among the vegetables used for food. They are tubers belonging to the Nightshade family; their hardy growth renders them easy of cultivation in almost any soil or climate, and, resisting early frosts, they may be raised in a higher latitude than the cereals.

They give needed bulk to food rather than nutriment, and, lacking in proteid, should be used in combination with meat, fish, or eggs.

Potatoes contain an acrid juice, the greater part of which lies near the skin; it passes into the water during boiling of potatoes, and escapes with the steam from a baked potato.

Potatoes are best in the fall, and keep well through the winter. By spring the starch is partially changed to dextrin, giving the potatoes a sweetness, and when cooked a waxiness. The same change takes place when potatoes are frozen. To prevent freezing, keep a pail of cold water standing near them.

Potatoes keep best in a cool dry cellar, in barrels or piled in a bin. When sprouts appear they should be removed; receiving their nourishment from the starch, they deteriorate the potato.

New potatoes may be compared to unripe fruit, the starch grains not having reached maturity; therefore they should not be given to children or invalids.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes, although analogous to white potatoes, are fleshy roots of the plant, belong to a different family (Convolvulus), and contain a much larger percentage of sugar. Our own country produces large quantities of sweet potatoes, which may be grown as far north as New Jersey and Southern Michigan. Kiln-dried sweet potatoes are the best, as they do not so quickly spoil.

Baked Potatoes

Select smooth, medium-sized potatoes. Wash, using a vegetable brush, and place in dripping-pan. Bake in hot oven forty minutes or until soft, remove from oven, and serve at once. If allowed to stand, unless the skin is ruptured for escape of steam, they become soggy. Properly baked potatoes are more easily digested than potatoes cooked in any other way, as some of the starch is changed to dextrin by the intense heat. They are better cooked in boiling water than baked in a slow oven.

Boiled Potatoes

Select potatoes of uniform size. Wash, pare, and drop at once in cold water to prevent discoloration; soak one-half hour in the fall, and one to two hours in winter and spring. Cook in boiling salted water until soft, which is easily determined by piercing with a skewer. For seven potatoes allow one tablespoon salt, and boiling water to cover. Drain from water, and keep uncovered in warm place until serving time. Avoid sending to table in a covered vegetable dish. In boiling large potatoes, it often happens that outside is soft, while centre is underdone. To finish cooking without potatoes breaking apart, add one pint cold water, which drives heat to centre, thus accomplishing the cooking.