No. (3. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 75 



The high price of maple products may have stimulated the lnanu- 

 facture and sale of artificial syrups and sugar from cane sugar and 

 glucose, but this fact would not justify the sale of the counterfeit 

 substitute at the prevailing high price of the pure maple sap product, 

 nor for the purpose of concealing inferiority. 



The chemist has no difficulty in determining the composition of 

 maple syrups or sugar, contrary to the opinion expressed a few years 

 ago, and present methods of analysis, based on the quantity of 

 ash, volume of precipitate with lead subacetate, alkalinity of ash 

 and other data, now afford information that cannot be doubted or 

 questioned. As already intimated, the general quality of these 

 maple products has reached an unequaled percentage of purity, and, 

 as a result, the legitimate trade has been benefited in a correspond- 

 ing degree. There are adulterated or compound syrups remaining on 

 the markets, which command prices that almost reach the level of 

 those of the pure maple products, but the matter is beyond the con- 

 trol of the Commissioner. The remedy depends solely upon the pur- 

 chaser and consumer. 



CANNED GOODS OF A HIGHER STANDARD. 



In the Annual Report for the preceding year, reference was made 

 to the demand on the part of the best trade and consumer for a 

 better and higher grade of canned fruits and vegetables. The can 

 ning industry of the United States recognizes this demand as never 

 before. The pure and impure brands are becoming better known 

 to the trade, and the lines are being more clearly defined. The 

 reputable firm has no desire to have a reputation blasted nor to 

 squander a fortune in defense of charges of adulteration or chemi- 

 cally preserving their canned products. The "dope 1 ' producer has 

 also learned a practical lesson. 



The canning industry is vast in its resources and capital, and the 

 Dairy and Food Commissioner is glad to offer this grateful acknowl- 

 edgment for the recognition given to the public demand for a higher 

 and better class of goods. The trend is plain and most encour- 

 aging, and just as soon as the public also realizes that quality rather 

 than quantity, is a desirable desideratum, some additional evils 

 will be eliminated. 



The pure food issue is a live one, commercial fraud is decreasing, 

 and reputable packers of canned goods now hesitate long and 

 seriously before they are willing to cut quality in order to meet 

 competition. The question of labelling canned goods, so as to show 

 the year in which they were grown and packed, has many advocates, 

 but up to the present time no definite line of action has been deter- 

 mined. 



CHEMICALLY PRESERVED OYSTERS. 



Reports reaching the Dairy and Food Division that certain oyster- 

 dealers were using chemical preservatives both to keep and restore 

 opened oysters of questionable quality, an investigation was at 

 once instituted. The special agents of the Division purchased sam- 

 ples from nearly 500 dealers, with the result that a number were 

 found upon analysis to contain boracie acid and other chemical pre 

 sei—atives. It was a singular coincidence that in some counties of 



