21 
y frequent accumulative use. This, however, is more a question for the chemist than for the merchant. 
The ple have come so far only from Hamburg and Amsterdam merchants, and there the govern- 
ent health officers have, in many instances, actually siezed, analyzed and confiscated the goods and destroyed 
hem. A merchant thus exposed to actual loss of all the goods that he may buy naturally stops buying, and 
ss Hamburg has always been far the largest market for American evaporated apples, our export demand 
3 year up to date (Nov. 17) has been almost nil. 
prejudice or of retaliation, but one of fact that has got to be met and remedied in some 
Basner. Mr. Myers states that the return to “the use of wooden trays in evaporators, 
if general, would restore the business to its former proportions. Any extra cost in evapora- 
ing by this method would be readily compensated by the additional price that the goods 
would bring. Unless we can find a wire cloth so galvanized that the acid of the fruit 
will not affest it, it is clear that its use must be abandoned sooner or later. The 
nit acid seems to have a close aflinity for either lead, tin or zinc, and as one or all of 
The manufacturers of a certain grade of wire cloth claim that their silver finish high 
ade cloth is proof against the action of the acid. Of course, if it is well covered 
with silver, their claim can be sustained ; but it strikes me that such cloth would be 
ery expensive. The only metals in use that are proof against fruit acid are gold, silver 
and platinum. The new metal, alluminum, when it becomes cheap, as prophesied, will 
also meet the case. I think I should prefer to use iron wire cloth, as the iron rust 
- cannot be called a poison, if I must use a wire cloth at all, unless the claims of the silver 
finish wire can be relied on, or return to wood altogether. Mr. Pincoffs further says : 
5 * As the matter now stands, evaporated apples cannot be sold in Hamburg unless the invoices are 
Sap ranied by a chemist’s certificate stating goods to be free from zinc, so that the trade in the article 
€ . . . . e e . . 
ere can be retained if a change is made in the process of manufacturing. But it may well be feared that 
_ if this change is not made, and further trouble is experienced in different parts of Germany, the German 
government will take the measure in hand, and having a solid argument against the article, will be only 
glad to prohibit its importation into Germany unconditionally. 
4 . The following report is made by M. De Lafontaine, a reputable chemist, who has 
sxamined several samples of apples evaporated on zinc trays: 
I have investigated the conditions under which zinc and zinc compounds find their way into evapor- 
ated apples, and tind as follows: 
/ 
1. The acid of the apple juice combines with some of the zinc of the traysand forms salts of zine; which 
remains on the slices. 
2. The wires of galvanized iron used to make the trays have received an extra coating of zinc, which 
y peels off when the wire is bent and mixes with the fruit. 
This is a matter that cannot be passed lightly by. It certainly shows a very 
rave state of things. We cannot question the report of the chemists in Hamburg or 
.msterdam, nor should we pass lightly by the report of M. De Lafontaine. If these 
oe are poisonous to the Germans of Hamburg or the Dutch of Amsterdam, can you 
me of any good reason why they should not have the same effect on the good people 
= 
— of Canada and the United States? If the suggestions of M. De Lafontaine are true, that 
it may come from the peeling off of the coating caused by the bending of the wire 
in weaving the cloth, then higher finish on the surface will not prove a remedy. It 
must be found in some other way. 
I trust that manufacturers of evaporated apples will not blind their eyes to these 
ts, and that before another year the use of lead, tin or zinc cloth may be abandoned 
for something that will render the taint of poison an impossibility. 
After brief addresses by ex-President Allan and Vice-President Morton the meeting 
adjourned until 10 o’clock Wednesday morning. 
