THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



405 



to buy up the empty barrels of such millers as are con- 

 sidered the manufacturers of the best qualities of flour. 

 Into these barrels, with tlie original mill brand upon 

 them, is packed flour of the most inferior quality 

 they can purchase ; and it is quite probable that these 

 same disreputable dealers, when the price of flour is 

 high, are tempted to adulterate it. In many of the 

 barrels at least half a bushel of gypsum has been found, 

 The wharfingers of the port of Toronto could testify to 

 the truth of this statement, for large quantities of what 

 is known as inferior farmers' flour is bought up and 

 packed in storehouses, and no doubt elsewhere through- 

 out the city. Whether this is all locally consumed 

 in the province, or some portion exported, it is per- 

 haps difficult to ascertain. 



Half the starches vended under the names of Ber- 

 muda and St. Vincent arrowroots, German sago, &c., 

 are nothing but potato flour. And so with the manna- 

 kroup, semolina, and other fancy-named food pro- 

 ducts : these are simply ground wheat. There is no 

 absolute harm inflicted in these, except the imposi- 

 tion. But some of the condiments sold are positively 

 hurtful. There are, howevei", conventional adultera- 

 tions carried on, to please the eye and the taste of the 

 customer. Thus mustard is never to be found genuine. 

 What is sold in the shops is white mustard, and not 

 brown, as it should be, and this is mixed with a quan- 

 tity of flour. Turmeric is added to bring up the colour 

 and pungency is given by the addition of a little pepper 

 or ginger. Brown mustard flour after being mixed 

 twenty-four hours turns black; and people do not like 

 it. Pure mustard flour if tested with a single drop of 

 spirits of ammonia retains its colour unchanged, 

 whereas that adulterated turns red. 



Provisions derived from the animal kingdom are not 

 very easily adulterated, but still they are tampered 

 with to some extent. 



A correspondent of The Times, not long ago, gave 

 the following account of how provisions for the Navy 

 are manufactured : — " Passing through a district 

 of Ireland, my attention was directed to a par- 

 ticular occupation carried on, which, upon nearer 

 inspection, pi'oved to be the following highly 

 amusing and instructive one. A number of pei*- 

 sons were sewing pieces of meat together, and, when 

 united, they formed a square mass of the weight 

 of about 41 bs. It appears that the contract by Govern- 

 ment is to supply the Navy with pieces of this size, and 

 to meet the demand the trade resort to this ingenious 

 mode of answering to the tender. Sailors are well ac- 

 quainted with the fact, for during mess you may fre- 

 quently see them spinning a yarn. Of course, bad 

 meat gets stitched up with the good, necks are shaped 

 into back loins, and every portion of the carcase finds 

 itself elegantly converted into a four-pound piece. 

 Sailors can do without the thread, but the Admiralty 

 can't without the stitching ; for everything connected 

 with the Board wants mending — except the meat, and 

 this would be just as well without the above process of 

 repair." 



Lard is even adulterated before shipment, in America. 



Indian corn-meal was formerly tised for the purpose j 

 but that discoloured the lard, and flour was found to 

 be preferable, as it assimilates so closely to the genuine 

 article as not to bo detected by inspection. A test was 

 recently applied to a lot sold by a Boston dealer, and 

 the lard was subjected to the fire, when, lo, the owner 

 had not only a pan of lard, but also a good-sized pan- 

 cake nearly fried in the boiling fat ! 



Only conceive a genuine from the country where 

 wooden nutmegs are natives of the soil, and 

 wooden shoe-pegs are whittled into oats, taking 

 home with him such a mixture I A Yankee 

 is, however, never at a loss; and we have no 

 doubt that a descendant of the man who made such 

 a speculation by shipping warming-pans to the West 

 Indies, and turning them to good account as sugar- 

 ladles, will invent a new system of selling doughnuts, 

 all'ready to be fried upon the application of a lucifer- 

 match, out of this doubtful investment. 



It is stated that frauds of a character similar to those 

 recently detected in the wine business in the docks have 

 transpired in the hop trade. They have consisted in 

 refilling of empty packages stamped with the names of 

 well-known planters, whose growths are of choice cha- 

 racter, with inferior, and indeed almost worthless hops, 

 chiefly the lowest description of American. 



The husks of rice and the refuse of rice-mills, under 

 the name of shude, is largely sold to oil-crushers to 

 mix with linseed-cake, to the extent of 30 per cent, and 

 upwards; and, as it is perfectly tasteless, and yields no 

 nourishment, it is of course a palpable fraud on the 

 purchaser, who pays a high price for what he deems 

 genuine oilcake for fattening his stock. 



Agricultural improvement is also much retarded by 

 the adulteration of inert substances with fertilisers. 

 Artificial manures are now employed to an enormous 

 extent, and it is but right that the purchaser should 

 get his money's worth in the receipt of an article 

 which is what it professes to be. So systematically 

 are many of the artificial manures adulterated, that 

 many farmers hesitate to use them, and form un- 

 favourable opinions as to their eflicacy from the gross 

 adulteration practised. Many of the guanos sold as 

 Peruvian at ^12 per ton have been found, on analysis, 

 not to be worth £2 or £'i. Earth adds to the weight 

 of guano, which ought not to weigh more than 70 or 

 721bs. the bushel. Water, again, is frequently unscru- 

 pulously added. Guano ought not to lose more than 

 10 to 16 per cent, by drying. 



Gypsum is often added to guano and to ground 

 bones, and common salt to nitre, sulphate of ammonia, 

 &:c. But there is no end to the catalogue of sophisti- 

 cations and adulterations practised, whether they come 

 under the class of conventional, to suit the public taste 

 and demand, or fraudulent, to put more money into 

 the dealers' pockets. Steps should be taken to check 

 practices rendering it almost impossible for the honest 

 trader or dealer to compete fairly in business, and 

 inimical to the health and interests of all classes of the 

 community. 



The folly of the age appears to be an anxiety to 

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