90 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



Vinegar, most of it being made of sulphuric or muriatic acid. 

 Comparatively little is made in this county." And, again : "I 

 don't know so well about your State, but if one tenth of the 

 vinegar sold there for domestic use should be found true to name, 

 I should be surprised." 



The following is from the" report of the Food and Dairy Com- 

 missioner of- Minnesota, where they have just put a vinegar law 

 in force, giving the result of an analysis of vinegars in Minneap- 

 olis: "Of fifty-five samples sold as Cider Vinegar, eleven were 

 pure, thirty-one were colored low wine vinegars, containing. in 

 some instances a small proportion of apple solids or cider vine- 

 gar, nineteen were below the legal limit of acidity. Of the 

 colored low wine vinegars a considerable number were branded' y 

 — well, I will not state here what — but there were two brands, 

 the sale of which has been pushed in this State. 



In regard to the character of the vinegar sold in our own State 

 it is not necessary for you to accept my statements, or that of 

 others, just visit the grocers in your own town and obtain 

 samples of imported vinegars and test them yourself, and if the 

 result does not surprise you I am much mistaken. 



Now you will notice that two kinds of fraudulent vinegar are 

 spoken of in these reports, one colored alcohol or whiskey 

 vinegar, and the other sulphuric acid vinegar. Do not mis- 

 understand me. I do not charge that all imitation Cider Vinegar 

 contains sulphuric acid; indeed, until lately, I did not believe it 

 was used to any considerable extent, and even now, probably the 

 larger part of the spurious Cider Vinegar is Alcohol Vinegar, 

 colored. Nor do I assert that these imitation goods, unmixed 

 with injurious acids, are necessarily unwholesome. The fraud is 

 bad enough as it is ; the consumer is entitled to receive the kind 

 of vinegar he calls and pays for. 



This is a matter of vital importance, not to Cider Vinegar 

 makers alone, it concerns the orchardists as much, and the 

 reasons are very apparent. An increased demand for pure Cider 

 Vinegar will necessitate the consumption of large quantities of 

 apples that are now allowed to rot on the ground, and in these 

 late years, when so much of our fruit is imperfect, the utilizing 

 of the second grades of apples, often makes up the difference 

 between a loss and a profit to the orchardist. 



Railroad freights have been so reduced on cider apple stock 

 that when one section is short they can be shipped in from other 

 points cheaply, and it only requires the securing to Cider Vinegar 

 makers, their rightful trade, to put thousands of dollars into the 

 pockets of fruit growers for what is now, in many cases, a waste 

 product. By reference to the report of the Secretary of this 

 Society for 1886, you will see that he estimates only forty-three 

 per cent, of the entire apple crop of this State was marketable. 

 An explanation of the causes of this state of affairs in the 



