No. 7. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 85 



gar, and Vv'ith ordinary care, there is no reason why the consumer 

 should be mislead or deceived. As a result of the enforcement of 

 the law, there is an increased demand for pure maple syrup and the 

 producer of pure goods has a profitable field distinctively his own. 



SALE AND USB OF COFFEE SUBSTITUTES. 



The constantly fluctuating coffee market has again suggested the 

 use of coffee substitutes. These can be sold without interference, 

 provided they are not sold as cotfee, and do not contain any deleter- 

 ious or illegal material. The branding of such coffee substitutes de- 

 mands special care to prevent possible trouble. An examination 

 was miade into the purity of the cheaper grades of coffee (ground) 

 such as was found on sale in many groceries in package form. While 

 the cheaper grades of the coffee bean were roasted and pulverized, 

 the packages, with hardly an exception, contained nothing foreign to 

 the coffee bean. Of course, the percentage of caffein and tannin 

 was less than that found in the higher grade goods. The suspected 

 admixture of chicory, roasted peas, roasted rye and roasted wheat 

 did not materialize under the microscopic examination in as large 

 a degree as had been anticipated. 



NEED FOR REVISED LIST OF PENNSYLVANIA CREAMERIES. 



A correct list of the creameries and cheese factories located in 

 Pennsylvania would prove advantageous to the Dairy and Food 

 Division. Such a directory was compiled and printed a number of 

 years ago, but it is of no practical value at this writing, because of 

 the numerous business changes which have taken place since it 

 was issued from the press. It would serve various useful purposes, 

 such as circulating information among dairymen, commercially and 

 otherwise. It is to be hoped that a revised list may be prepared and 

 printed during the coming year, 



UNSANITARY ICE CREAM FACTORIES AND PRODUCTS. 



The unsanitary condition of certain ice cream factories has at- 

 tracted the attention of some of the special agents of the Dairy and 

 Food Division. They declare that the legislature should enact strin- 

 gent laws covering the subject, and that they should be promptly 

 and rigorously enforced. It is also a well known fact that Penn- 

 sylvania has no fixed standard for ice cream, and that in consequence 

 a vast amount of stuff is manufactured and sold which is harmful 

 and not worthy of the name ice cream. Leading ice cream manu- 

 facturers claim that no ice cream should be sold that contained less 

 than fourteen per cent, butter-fat, while at the present time, a large 

 portion of the so-called "ice cream" is merely a combination of 

 skimmed milk, starch, gelatine and dye stuffs. 



The venders of "hokey-pokey" or penny blocks of ice cream also 

 impose upon the public and small children in particular a com- 

 pound that is not above suspicion. It is probable that this subject 

 will receive careful attention next summer, even though no addition- 

 al legislation may be enacted. It is self-apparent that there is 

 room for improvement along this particular line. As usual, the le- 

 gitimate manufacturer is in hearty sympathy with the proposed 

 moment to secure a better and higher grade of cream. The gen- 

 eral sanitary conditions and equipments where such cheap ice cream 



