1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1117 



daily papers that formerly sold for a cent are now 

 selling at two. VV'e have not as yet ad\ anced the 

 price of Gleanincs; and as we do our own work 

 in our own plant with the very latest modern 

 machinery, we hope an advance in pi ice will not 

 be necessary. 



HONEV-CROP CONDITIONS — PRICES. 



There is no material change to report over 

 that given on page 1050 of our last issue. As 

 confirmatory of the shortness of the crop in Col- 

 orado we introduce a letter right here from Mr. 

 R. C. Aikin, who is in position to know: 



Colorado has little honey this year. Western slope is reported 

 lair; .-Arkansas Valley, half a crop; northern (Denver, Boulder. 

 LongmoDt, Loveland, Ft. Collins, Windsor, and Greeley) will not 

 supply the home market. Only once or twice in 20 years have I 

 had so little as this year. R. C. Aikin. 



Loveland, Col., Aug. 29. 



This means that the market for Eastern clover 

 should become firm; but by reference to some 

 markets here in the East, we find that prices are 

 unsettled in some sections and good in others. 

 We hope for improvement. 



CANE vs. BEET SUGAR. 



Mr. Crane calls attention to the controversy 

 in regard to the difference between cane and beet 

 sugar. Theoretically they are the same; but ex- 

 perts note a difference. In London, the chief 

 beet-sugar market of the world, cane sugar, as a 

 general thing, commands a slightly higher price 

 than beet sugar. Tlie Sugar Beet, an excellent 

 magazine devoted to the interests of the industry 

 in this country, recently admitted there is a dif- 

 ference, and accounted for it by stating that the 

 particles of carbon lie closer together in cane su- 

 than in beet sugar. This, of course, would make 

 the cane sugar the sweeter of the two. Be that 

 as it may, the juice of the beet contains a very 

 bitter principle known as ketaiiie, and it takes 

 great skill to get rid of it in making the Sugar. 

 Sugar cane, on the other hand, has a delightfully 

 sweet juice; and, if sufficient care is used, a sugar 

 almost identical with maple sugar can be made 

 from it. Beet sugar is often colored with ultra- 

 marine blue, which is against it for feeding pur- 

 poses. There is even a difference in cane sugars. 

 The syrups of Florida and Georgia are superior 

 to those of Louisiana, chiefly, I think, on account 

 of the low heavy soil of the latter as compared 

 with the light, warm, friable soils of Georgia and 

 Florida. Porto Rico and Barbados are celebrat- 

 ed for their syrups; and in both of them the soils 

 are light and well drained. I believe bees are 

 better judges of sweets than we are, and we might 

 as well cater to their prejudices. vv. k. m. 



THE pure-food EXHIBIT AT THE OHIO STATE 

 FAIR; WHAT OHIO IS DOING IN THE EN- 

 FORCEMENT OF PURE-FOOD LAWS. 



One of the most striking exhibits — one that at- 

 tracted a large amount of attention — at the Co- 

 lumbus Fair was one made by the Pure-food De- 

 partment of the State of Ohio, of which Renick 

 W. Dunlap is Commissioner. The exhibit was 

 under the immediate charge of two of his in- 

 spectors, E. J. Riggs and George E. Scott. 



It comprised a large collection of food and 

 drug products gathered from all over the State, 



showing various examples of adulteration, the use 

 of injurious preservatives and coloring matters, 

 and, in general, some ingenious specimens of 

 misbranding. Thanks to Commissioner Dunlap 

 and his associates, there is not a State in the 

 Union where the pure-food law is better enforced. 

 A feature of the exhibit showed the attempts of 

 certain manufacturers of foods to get around the 

 law, or to dodge the special clause of the statute 

 having reference to the general subject of mis- 

 branding. In some cases the preservative or col- 

 oring matter would be indicated in very small 

 type; in other cases the adulterant would be nam- 

 ed, but in such an ambiguous way that the aver- 

 age consumer would read the headlines, suppos- 

 ing he was buying a certain definite well-recog- 

 nized food product, when in fact he was getting 

 only an imitation of it. But the Pure-food De- 

 partment had traced down a lot of these cases, 

 and compelled strict compliance with the provi- 

 sions of the law. 



Comparatively speaking, there is but little 

 adulteration in Ohio. In the case of vinegars, 

 catsups, jams, and various preserves, there has 

 been some injurious imitations. Candy has been 

 found to contain considerable injurious coloring 

 matter, especially of the coal-tar products; the 

 catsups and meats, an excessive amount of pre- 

 servative. 



Avery interesting part of this exhibit were ccr- 

 pieces of muslin cloths. Some of them, about 

 half a yard wide and a yard long, were colored 

 from the dyes taken from a single bottle of cat- 

 sup or from a few candies. The amount of col- 

 oring matter used in some cases was enough to 

 give strong rich tones to large pieces of cloth. 

 Think of that amount of stain going into the hu- 

 man stomach, and for no other purpose than to 

 deceive! These dyed cloths were displayed 

 around the exhibit in a way that was very strik- 

 ing. These coal-tar dyes are used because they 

 are cheap, and because they help to bring up the 

 appearance of certain adulterated goods, or of 

 pure food improperly prepared; but Uncle Sam 

 and Ohio say their use shall stop. 



The Pure-food Department insists that benzoic 

 acid, and other preservatives of a like character, 

 if strong enough to preserve the food would be 

 likewise strong enough to prevent the digestion 

 of those same foods when taken into the human 

 stomach, and it is right. 



But perhaps the most common adulterant of 

 foods was saccharine, used in canned goods. 

 This article is in no sense a food, but a powerful 

 medicine that is produced from coal tar. It is 

 500 times sweeter than common sugar; and as it 

 is very cheap the temptation is to use it in canned 

 goods, for it certainly imparts to them a sweet 

 flavor. When it is remembered that 4 lbs. of this 

 potverful drug costs Sq.oo, and has the same 

 s^weetening pon^ver as a ton of sugar costing Si 20, 

 one can see how unscrupulous canners would use 

 it in spite of its effects on the lives of our people 

 were it not for the national and State pure-food 

 laws and their enforcement. 



There is a need of having just such men as 

 Dunlap and his associates, who can not be bought 

 or cajoled, at the head of the Food Department 

 at Columbus to prevent some rascals from send- 

 ing us prematurely to our graves. The way 

 they are making them come to time should be a 



