No. 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 83 



gai'ine. He is of the opinion that it was used for the purpose of 

 imparting to oleomargarine a color to make it resemble in appear- 

 ance the tint of yellow butter. The oleomargarine in which the 

 corn oil was discovered was of a deeper shade of yellow than the 

 common color of the article, although taxed by the government at 

 the minimum rate of one-fourth cent per pound, while regularly col- 

 ored oleomargarine, whose sale is entirely prohibited in Pennsylva- 

 nia, is taxed ten cents per pound. Prof. La Wall will make further 

 and more extensive researches into the subject, when the results 

 obtained will be published in detail. 



The corn oil industry is of but recent origin, and its possibilities, 

 if used for the several purposes indicated, would certainly be great 

 and far reaching. The oil has a golden yellow color, a pleasant 

 grain-like odor and an agreeable taste. 



THE QUESTION OF A MILK STANDARD. 



Frequently attention has been called to the alleged so-called 

 ''scientific manipulation" of milk on the part of large producers as 

 well as owners of large dairy depots. While certain high grade 

 herds owned by such persons yield milk of exceptional quality and 

 richness, with butter-fat averaging as high as five per cent., the 

 milk is said to receive the aforesaid "scientific treatment" until the 

 fat contents are reduced to three per cent. As Pennsylvania has no 

 fixed standard, and milk from ordinary cows and under common con- 

 ditions will hardly average much above three and one-half per cent, 

 butter-fat, the "scientific" manipulator regards himself as being 

 within the confines of ordinary requirements of law and safe from 

 prosecution. Under the special process, an additional profit amount- 

 ing to fifty dollars on a single cow, per year, is not impossible, with 

 the present high prices for milk. It is not unlikely that some means 

 will be devised to prevent this questionable .method of profit taking. 

 City and borough ordinances can be enacted to meet this new condi- 

 tion, while State legislation would also be helpful. On this sub- 

 ject the following explanation is pertinent: 



"Whole milk generally has a specific gravity at 60° F, between 

 1.029 and 1.033. Exceptionally rich milk with a high percentage 

 of fat, however, may have a specific gravity lower than 1.029, and 

 by that test alone would be unjustly condemned. Addition of water 

 to milk lowers, and skimming raises, the specific gravity. Low per- 

 centages of fat, solids not fat, and total solids, and low- specific grav- 

 ity indicate that the milk has been w^atered, but when a deficiency 

 of fat and total solids is associated with a normal percentage of sol- 

 ids not fat and a high specific gravity, the milk has probably been 

 skimmed. Samples which have been both skimmed and watered and 

 which are very deficient in fat and solids may have a normal spe- 

 cific gravity, as the two operations have opposite effects on this phy- 

 sical property of milk. 



There are then, two reasons why a sample should not be judged 

 by its specific gravity alone: first, exceptionally rich milk might be 

 condemned, and second, milk which has been both skimmed and wat- 

 ered might pass as genuine. Taken in connection with the results 

 of chemical analysis, the determination of specific gravity is, how- 

 ever, of great value." 



