Nu. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 6& 



dirty eggs are a rarity. The size of the eggs sold in those markets is 

 also an important consideration, and prices are graded according to 

 size and quality. The poultry and egg industry of Pennsylvania is 

 continually increasing in importance. It seems that some remedial 

 agent is necessary to protect the public. The interest of the farmer 

 is also affected by the sale of storage eggs, and he has a special 

 reason for seeking redress. 



PURE CANNED GOODS. 



The sale of cheap and inferior canned goods of various descrip- 

 tions has for many 3'ears been a menace to health, as well as a seri- 

 ous injury to the trade who favored high-grade canned goods at rea- 

 sonable or proportionate values. There is no valid reason for not 

 adopting a fixed standard, and pure food should be obtainable just 

 as easily and readily in cans and other proper receptacles as in bulk. 

 The public will readily familiarize labels, seals, trade marks, etc., 

 and whether good, bad or indifferent, the real character and status 

 of goods is soon established in the minds of the retailer and con 

 sumer. Today certain firms take the lead in their special lines of 

 canned products, because of the prestige attained by the high quality 

 of the goods which they are placing upon the market. Proper sani- 

 tary surroundings and cleanliness at the factory or cannery, and 

 the imperative demand for correct and honest labeling, have not 

 been lacking proper recognition on the part of a discerning public. 

 No misrepresentation as to the contents and no drugging of food- 

 stuffs with preservatives can be safely tolerated. The attention of 

 the Dairy and Food Commissioner has also been called to the low 

 and dangerous grade of the tin that is frequently used by canners 

 and others as a receptacle for food products. Many persons have 

 been poisoned by imperfectly coated tin plate used in making cans, 

 and some canners advocate a passage of an Act of Assembly to 

 establish and define a legal standard for the tin plate used in making 

 such receptacles for food. The evil, fortunately, is not general, and 

 the Commonwealth's representatives are willing to concede that the 

 majority of the manufacturers and canners are honest business men 

 who believe in the production of honest goods. 



OLEOMARGARINE AND RENOVATED BUTTER LICENSES. 



The increase in pure food fines paid into the State Treasury of 

 Pennsylvania since 1901 is rather phenomenal, the figures for the 

 past four years being as follows: 



1901, $4,883 23 



1902, 8,082 20 



1903, 39,752 18 



1904, 53,904 05 



It is an equally interesting fact, however, that while in 1903 the 

 fees received for the payment of oleomargarine licenses amounted to 

 -137,911.18, as compared with |23,927.0o for the preceding year (1902), 

 the receipts from the same sources for 1004 amounted to but |31,- 

 277.61, showing a decrease of .|6,633.57. As the United States Gov- 

 ernment reports show that during the past three years the products 

 and sales of oleomargarine decreased sixty-two per cent., the Penn- 



5—7—1904 



