No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 81 



law tlie farmer is authorized to mauufacture out of the products 

 of his orchards pure cider vinegar and to label it accordingly. It 

 was the thought of the legislators, when they put this act upon 

 the statute books, that it would not only insure to the farmers of 

 the Commonwealth protection in the utilization of their surplus 

 apple crop, but likewise secure to the consumer vinegar of un- 

 doubted purity. I regret to say that events during the year have 

 not been entirely in accordance with the hopes of the lawmakers 

 and of those charged with the enforcement of this particular act. 

 Many of the farmers have done their part, but a goodly number of 

 dealers have not been careful to assist in the desirable task of in- 

 suring a supply of wholesome, unadulterated vinegar for the use 

 of the consumer. Here again comes in the curse of cheapness. 

 The offer of vinegar at less than the farmers can afford to sell it 

 has been too much of a temptation for some retailers, and the re- 

 sult has been that a considerable quantity of adulterated vinegar 

 is sold in the State. Of 166 samples collected at diiferent points, 

 75 were adulterated and 91 pure. While the pure samples were 

 more numerous than the adulterated, the work of our agents shows 

 the existence of a very undesirable state of affairs. Even of the 

 vinegar purchased for apple vinegar, 57 out of 127 samples were 

 adulterated. The effect of the impure product upon the human 

 stomach is extremely injurious. Several violators of law were prose- 

 cuted during the year and the Vv'ork will be carried on with vigor in 

 the coming months unless offending dealers turn over a new leaf. 



Perhaps some of the dealers who have purchased so-called vinegar 

 manufactured in other states and shipped into this Commonwealth 

 have not given the matter much thought. Perhaps they have been 

 content to accept the representatives of the salesmen who have 

 brought the matter to their attention and been deceived by the 

 strong representations made concerning both the purity and the 

 cheapness of their goods. Of many this is doubtless true. Never- 

 theless the law has been violated and those who have fallen into 

 the trap have often been mulcted in for more than their profits 

 on the cheaper vinegar could possibly amount to. It may be, too, 

 that the farmer, for whose benefit the vinegar law was specially 

 enacted, has not always been willing to take advantage of its 

 provisions. Sometimes, too, he may have demanded a higher price 

 than the article was really worth and thus turned the dealer away 

 from him. Whatever may be the cause, too much impure and dan- 

 gerous vinegar has been; put on sale in this State and we must 

 do better in the future. To this end the co-operation of farmers 

 and grocers is invited that we may rid our State of the dangerous 

 compounds too often sold as vinegar and supply the consumer 

 with a pure article that will not destroy the tissues of the stomach, 

 promote disease and shorten life. I have endeavored to emphasize 

 this matter for the reason that it seems to be one of the danger spots 

 still lingering in our State urgently needing to be removed. I be- 

 lieve nearly every grocer in the State is anxious to purchase from 

 the manufacturer and sell to the consumer nothing that will injure 

 the body and shorten the life. In that belief the facts are presented 

 iiere, and an urgent appeal made to those concerned in the enforce- 

 ment\)f a just and necessary law. This can be largely accomplished 



6—7—1908. 



