Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 1]
June 11 1813
My Dear Lord
When Mr Whalley first began commenced his attempt to obtain dip his Fingers into the Public Purse he declard that he had invented a method of Extracting Flour from Potatoes, I was among the first to which this product was Shewn he was however over time Convinced that the Substance he did extract which he now calls Farina is Starch & not Flour & he ought to be aware that every Chemist in Europe & every Starch maker is as well able to make Potatoe Starch as he is & have been in the habit of making it for a Century at Least
in the scarce times that we remember a few years ago this Starch was Recommended & used by some people Families to deminish the consumption of flour in their Families, the addition of Boiled Potatoes to Flour in making bread & Puddings was then usd in abundance of different ways & still is usd in some Families but is never likely to be generaly adopted
Thus all pretentions to invention & novelty on the part of Mr Whalley are I conceive done away if so he can have no claim on the Public for Reward, both the improvements he suggests have been already introduced into use & will if the Public chuse it be adopted on a large scale, in the case of Potatoe Starch however we must Recollect that it is subject to an Excise duty & that Penalties attach to the making of it without a Licence
if I remember well for I am here without Books to Refer to it requires lb 20 of Potatoes to make lb 3½ of this Starch the remaining lb 16½ which also abounds in nutriments must be employd in the food of animals This appears to me a great waste of human Food the cultivation