FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART IV. 



189 



One of the provisions of the law is that the substitute for butter sold 

 must not have a yellow color, and this department holds that this provis- 

 ion means that it must not have any shade of yellow. In order that the 

 courts might pass upon this phase of the law a test case was made against 

 the Armour Packing Company in Des Moines upon the sale of a tub of 

 "uncolored" oleomargarine, which nevertheless had a slight shade of yel- 

 low color. On May 8th this corporation was convicted on an indictment 

 charging the sale of oleomargarine "having a yellow color." 



It is the duty of the dairy commissioner to enforce the law against 

 the sale of oleomargarine in this State. 1 have refrained from making 

 suits against the numerous dealers until this test -case could be decided. 

 This case having resulted in conviction, I am sending you this statement, 

 in the belief that you will, without further efforts on the part of this 

 office, desist from selling oleomargarine having any shade of yellow color, 

 whether it be called "colored" or "uncolored." Respectfully, 



H. R. Wright, 

 Dairy Commissioner. 



A considerable number of the men who held licenses in the State 

 answered this circular, saying that the sale of oleomargarine was not a 

 success with them and had been only an experiment, the result of v>'hich 

 would prevent them from attempting the sale of oleomargarine in the 

 future. On October 15, 1903, there was not a single license for the sale 

 of oleomargarine held in the Northern District of Iowa, and only six in 

 the Southern District of Iowa. There will doubtless be a few more 

 licenses taken out before next July. The Dairy Cominissioner hopes to 

 secure a final conviction in the case mentioned above, and a supreme 

 court interpretation of the law which will support the contention that a 

 man may not sell oleomargarine in Iowa if it has a yellow color. 



RENOVATED BUTTER. 

 LIST OF RENOVATED BUTTER FACTORIES. 



The foregoing table shows the names and locations of the thirteen 

 process butter factories of the State of Iowa. All of these factories have 

 been in operation for the year ending July 1, 1903, and have made to this 



