OCR Text |
Show THE POTATO COMES BACK The huge potato crop which the iederal forecast Indicates will be produced pro-duced in the United States this year means that this important food stable sta-ble will be cheaper, and makes it possible, says the United States Department De-partment of Agriculture, for American Ameri-can families that had to out down on potato consumption because of high prices to restore the tuber to a prominent prom-inent place on their bill of fare. The department forecast, based on reliable estimates from all parts of the country, places the total potato yield at more than 467 millionbu-shels millionbu-shels as compared with 285 million in 1916 and 360 million in 1916. Potatoes Po-tatoes of the current season are already al-ready in the market in large quantities quanti-ties and, since the early harvested tubers tu-bers can not be kept easily, should be eaten more abundantly now It spoilage spoil-age is to be avoided. Next to the breadstuffs potatoes are the most important food crop of the western nations, the department points out. They are all the more important now that the world's wheat supply is short, since they furnish starch, the principal food element contributed by bread, and so may be substituted in part for bread. It is no hardship to Americans, says the department, to eat freely of potatoes; rather, it has been a hardship to them during the past half year to forego somewhat the use of this common food. |