FARMERS' INSTITUTES. TS 



the bright colored liquid a very dark purple. Tlie purest baking powders were 

 those known as the "Royal" and "Dr. Price's." 



Butter was also adulterated ; the butter maker sometimes used too much 

 salt and too much water was left in, which, while not exactly an adulteration, 

 is injurious, making the butter weigh heavily and in time become rancid. Mr. 

 Felker described the process of making oleomargerine and the adulterations of 

 confectionery Avith glucose and terra alba, and the various injurious articles 

 used as coloring matter. Coffee when ground could be tested by being poured 

 into a glass of water ; tlie adulterated coffee would discolor the Avater. Mr. 

 Felker questioned whether there was much genuine Java coffee to be obtained 

 in this country. Coffee from Brazil was shipped to Arabia and the Dutch 

 East Indies and came back to America as Java coffee. The only proper way 

 to get pure coffee was to buy tlie berries green. Ground coffee was largely 

 adulterated with chickory and the chickory was itself adulterated with half a 

 dozen articles. Cream tartar, indigo, honey and jellies were very largely adul- 

 terated. Kerosene was terribly adulterated, and tiie speaker had found extreme 

 difficulty this winter in finding a pure article. Parafine was largely used to 

 make the oil heavy and benzine was added to make it average about right. 

 Mr. Felker lays all the blame on the last Legislature for repealing the law 

 requiring the chill test. The only complaint the people made was that the oil 

 cost too much. It costs just as much now and is lamentably deficient in illu- 

 minating qualities. The wicks of lamps became gummy and burned low, 

 which was solely to be attributed to the paraffine. The adulteration of milk 

 and its results, as manifested in typhoid fevers, was enlarged upon. 



The adulteration of soap with rosin was alluded to. Mr. Felker minutely 

 described the adulterations of sugar, the practice obtaining to such an extent 

 that several of the most honorable refiners in New York had retired from busi- 

 ness and closed up their establishments, finding themselves unable to compete 

 witli the dishonest ones in the same business. Syrups came into the same 

 nefarious category. Few people aware of the poisonous extent to which syrups 

 were adulterated dared purchase them but confined themselves entirely to 

 sugar. The only sure way to obtain a pure article was to buy the granulated 

 sugar. Teas were largely adulterated, not only with the leaves of the willow 

 and other trees, but with mineral matter. Tobacco was a favorite article for 

 adulteration, as was vinegar, and of liquors, of course, it went without saying 

 that rare indeed was the liquor to be obtained which was really what it pur- 

 ported to be. Spices were so extensively adulterated that the only sure way to 

 obtain the genuine was to buy only the unground berries or barks. In closing 

 Mr. Felker advocated a national law and stringent inspection. State laws on 

 this subject were necessarily dead letters, because legislation of that kind could 

 not hinder the manufacture or importation of such articles from other States. 



In the discussion following this lecture the illuminating qualities of our 

 present Michigan oil was somewhat fully discussed. The prevailing opinion 

 seemed to be that taking the quality into consideration our oil was dearer than 

 formerly. 



Mrs. M. J. Kutz read the following paper on 



BOYS AND GIRLS ON THE FARM. 



Permit me to go directly to my subject without preliminary remarks, or 

 apology. And in order to deal with it intelligently, I need first inquire, Wliat 

 cause led our boys and girls to forsake the farm heretofore? This inquiry 

 takes me past hamlet, town and metropolis, across the Atlantic's waves to the 



