FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART IV. 185 



built, and the question to be settled in the daii-y business of Iowa 

 is whether these pbnts will take the place of the smaller cream- 

 eries of the State. 



OLEOMARGARINE. 



The new national oleomargarine law has been ni force since 

 July I, 1902, so that statistics are at hand for the year ending- 

 June 30, 1903. The make of oleomargarine for ':lie year just 

 preceding the new national law was 126,315,427 pounds. For 

 the first year under the new law the make was 71,21 1,3.14 pounds, 

 a decrease oi 55,104,183 pounds, or 44 per cent. Tlie following 

 table shows the number of fifty-pound tubs of oleomargarine 

 made during September in the Chicago oleo factories : 



The total make for the whole United States for the months of 

 July and August during the last three years has been as follows : 



1901 15,814,835 pounds. 



1902 • 9,002,054 pounds. 



1903 5,795,125 pounds. 



A careful study of the foregoing figures will sliow clearly 

 that there has been a very great decrease in the amount of oleo- 

 margarine made in the United States, and that the decrease 

 seems to be more and more the longer the law is in effect. For 

 many years the opponaits of the oleomargarine traffic -lave been 

 putting forth the claim that there was a small legitimate trade for 

 oleomarofarine sold as such, but that the bulk of the oleomar- 

 garine trade was only possible when the oleomargarine was col- 

 ored in imitation of butter and sold so that the ultimate consumer 

 was deceived into thinking that it was butter. The figures from 

 the internal revenue department given above seem to prove that 

 this assertion is borne out by the decreased sale of so-called ''un- 

 colcred oleomargarine" even when the 'oleomargarine was given 



