88 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



OLEOMARGARINE AND RENOVATED BUTTER SALES. 



The continued high price of dairy butter during the year had a correspond- 

 ing tendency to increase the cost of renovated butter, and in a measure, in- 

 fluence the demand for oleomargarine. An examination of the official records 

 shows that there was no increase in the number of renovated butter licenses, 

 but that the number of dealers in oleomargarine was largely augmented. The 

 figures will appear in tabular form in another part of this report. The ratio 

 of increase in the sale of renovated butter as compared with oleomargarine 

 was probably not maintained because of the apparent parity of values of reno- 

 vated butter and creamery butter. There are indications, however, that the 

 renovated butter manufacturers will again make a concerted effort to have the 

 present restrictive law changed when the Legislature convenes, but it is not 

 at all likely that they will be able to effect any radical changes. The farmers 

 and dairymen will certainly make a strong resistance to any«proposed legis- 

 lation inimical to their interests. The State and subordinate granges of Penn- 

 sylvania are a unit against any changes in the present oleomargarine and 

 renovated butter laws. If it were possible, they would secure more stringent 

 legislation, adding strength to several points which are not entirely satis- 

 factory. No renovated butter or oleomargarine factory has been licensed to do 

 business in Pennsylvania, although the Revenue Bureau, at Philadelphia, 

 reports that a tax was paid on an oleomargarine factory, but that it was not 

 opened. 



It is now the custom to treat much of the rancid butter found on the market 

 in such a manner as to remove the rancidity. In the early days of this com- 

 paratively new industry, the product was sold as genuine, fresh butter. At 

 the present writing it is under strict government surveillance, and each pack- 

 age or parcel must be plainly marked on the wrapper with the words "Reno- 

 vated Butter." Violations of law for non-compliance with this rule are rela- 

 tively infrequent. The stringent laws of both the United Stales and the Com- 

 monwealth of Pennsylvania provide heavy penalties for violations. 



RENOVATED OR "PROCESS BUTTER." 



Since "Renovated Butter" is being sold in Western Pennsylvania in consid- 

 erable quantities, the following excerpt from a report of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, referring to this product, will prove of interest. 

 The explanation of the process of making it is of special interest. The article 

 shows that the method of manufacture or treatment is quite different from 

 the "process" used years ago: 



"Oleomargarine is no longer a novelty to Americans; its composition and 

 method of manufacture have become matters of common knowledge. Reno- 

 vated or 'process' butter, on the other hand, having been introduced in a 

 large way hardly more than five or six years, and being retailed usually with- 

 out other designation than the general one of 'butter,' is as yet hardly known 

 to the general public. All grades of it — good, indifferent, and bad — are met 

 with in our markets. Tlie better grades of it are made from miscellaneous 

 assortments of 'country butter,' mainly 'farmers' rolls,' produced by individual 

 farmers remote from creameries and sold or exchanged at the country stores, 

 this material being treated or 'processed,' as the term is, while still fresh 

 or relatively so. The poorer grades result from the treatment of inferior raw 

 material; for example, the aforesaid 'country butter,' or any other kind of 

 butter, which, by too long keeping, by abuse in regard to temperature, or by 

 unfavorable surroundings, has suffered great deterioration. Experience has 

 shown that only a poor article of renovated butter can be produced from 

 rancid 'stock.' 



"HOW RENOVATED OR 'PROCESS' BUTTER IS MADE. 



"The process may be briefly outlined as follows: Melting of the butter and 

 settling of the curd and brine, skimming off froth and scum, drawing off and 

 discarding of the curd and brine, blowing of air through the molten fat to 

 remove faulty odors, mixing of milk very thoroughly with the molten fat, rapid 

 cooling and 'granulating' of this mixture by running it into ice-cold water, 

 draining and ripening of the granulated mass for a number of hours, salting 

 and working out of the excess of milk, packing or making into prints. 



"By this process, when used upon comparatively fresh raw material, butters 

 of low grade are materially improved, the farmer's revenue is increased, values 

 are enhanced — in short, a good thing is done. Harm begins only when the 

 renovated is sold for the genuine (that is, the original) article, for they are 

 not the same thing. While the fats in the two are practically the same chemi- 

 cally, the nitrogenous portions are not. Moreover, since the article known 

 now and for ages past as 'butter' is an article the last step in which manufac- 

 ture is the churning of cream, it is evident that the product of an elaborate 

 subsequent process, a process entirely foreign to the manufacture of 'butter,' 

 should be designated by a distinctive name." 



