464 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



Butter and cheese are almost universally colored to meet the 

 popular demand, and this demand varies so in different sections of 

 this country that it is necessary for manufacturers and shippers to 

 prepare their shipments especially for the section of country in which 

 they are to be consumed; for instance, Washington demands a darker 

 butter than Chicago, and New Orleans demands a color still darker 

 than Washington. 



One of the weaknesses of consumers is an admiration for foods 

 that are polished or have a gloss, and this nickel-plate fancy plays 

 some queer pranks with foods. The lifelong resident of the large city, 

 for instance, who has no first-handed knowledge of an apple orchard, 

 may buy from an apple woman at the street corner a pretty red apple 

 with a wax-like polish on its surface secured by an application of 

 saliva and a dirty rag. On the contrary, the apple-loving country- 

 man, especially one who has come to be known as a "horticulturist," 

 delights in the natural bloom of the apple. 



Lettuce is one of the most fickle of plants in popular fancy. 

 Different types are popular in different parts of the country. Some- 

 times the markets of cities only 100 miles apart will each call for 

 types which would be unsalable in the other. In general, the cluster- 

 ing and crinkled-leaved varieties are more largely preferred than the 

 smooth-leaved and heading sorts, and green sorts are preferred to 

 those with brown, but some markets prefer the brown. 



The firm-fleshed European sorts of cantaloupe are rarely seen. 

 Americans prefer the softer although coarser-fleshed sorts. Carrots 

 are not so largely used in this country as in Europe for table purposes, 

 but when so used a deep orange color is wanted. 



Whiteness of foods is so frequently the aim of the food producer 

 and of the cook that some underlying cause would seem to be back 

 of this. Perhaps it is because whiteness is so often an indication of 

 cleanliness; at any rate, the eye is immediately to be pleased, let the 

 source of the fancy be what it will. 



In parts of England a white potato is preferred to one with a 

 colored skin. A preference for the external whiteness of the potato 

 does not seem to have arisen in this country, but its inside whiteness 

 is admired at the dining-table when exceptionally pure. 



Perfectly white beet or cane sugar is desirable and, since it has 

 been found impossible to produce this by bleaching, a small amount 

 of some blue substance, such as ultramarine, is added to neutralize the 

 slightly yellow tint of the crystals. 



