KAKARAMEA.

Patea Mail, Volume VI, Issue 510, 21 April 1880, Page 3

KAKARAMEA.

[From our Correspondent.] The progress of onr Library and Institute has been satisfactory. This useful institution for Kaknramca has been in full working order since the commencement of this year, and although the number of subscribers fluctuates, yet on the whole the committee have reason to congratulate themselves upon the present state of affairs. The committee desire to publicly thank W. Dale, Esq., for his liberal donation, and wish that others is the district would loose their purse-strings with the view of bencfittiug such an admirable institution. It may be advisable to state that the library now consists of some two hundred volumes, and many of them will he found, on inspection, replete with information and amusement. They comprise history, travels, memoirs, miscellanies, works of fiction, general literature, and treatises on religious subjects. It is to be hoped that ere long a section of land will be secured for erecting a suitable building, as dining the winter nights the absence of a fire in the Town Hall will not be conducive to the comfort of members. Persons who have not yet subscribed, and are desirous of so doing, should interview the secretary, Mr It, T. Brown, at the scbool-housc.

HOW TO USE POTATOES. Few poisons arc aware of the great demand for potato flour, and of the almost unlimited extent of the market that can be found for this product, which is simply the dry evaporated pulp of the ordinary potato—the white and more free from black specks the better. It is used for sizing and other manufacturing purposes, ami by precipitation and with the aid of acid is turned into starch. In Europe it meets with a and increasin'- demand in its primitive state, as potato flour, and in Lancashire alono 20,QU0 tons arc sold annually, and as many more would be taken if put in the market. When calcined, it is used largely for silk dressing and other purposes. At present the quotation for potato flour in Liverpool is nearly double that of wheat flour. Consignments to Liverpool arc solicited by the brokers there, who promise to take all that can be furnished. For perfectly cleansing woollens, and such like articles, it is the housewife’s panacea ; and if the washerwoman happens to have chilblains, she becomes cured by the operation. In France the farina is largely used for culinary purposes. The famous gravies, sauces, and soups of France are largely indebted for their excellence to that source, and the bread and pastry equally so, while a great deal of the so-called cognac, imported into England from France, is distilled from the potato. Throughout Germany the same uses are common. In Poland the manufacture of spirits from the potato is a most extensive trade. “ Stettin Brandy,” well known in commerce, is largely imported into England, and is sent from thence to many of our foreign possessions as the produce of the grape, aud is placed on many a table of England as same ; while the fair ladies of our country perfume themselves with the spirit of the potato under the designation of eau de Cologne. But there are other uses to which this esculent is tinned to abroad. After extracting the farina, the pulp is inanufactiirecl into oruaiucntal articles, such as picture frames, snuff-boxes, and several descriptions of toys, and the water that runs from it in Hie process of manufacture is a most valuable scourer.