158 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



objectionable grades. A somewhat better class of goods is 

 obtained hy gathering butter in mass, as churned and prefer- 

 a])Iy unsalted, from the farms where made or the nearest 

 country stores, and then working it over at the factory 

 without melting, but all conies to market without distinction 

 as to origin. It stands in the quotations of the day the 

 equal of Eastern dairies and of western creameries, except- 

 inof what are known as "extras" in both those classes, and 

 is a much more serious competitor of fresh, sound, farm 

 dairy butter and the lower grades of creamery butter than 

 any form of acknowledged butter substitutes. This is an 

 incomplete but fair presentation of the evil. I submit that 

 it demands attention ; something should be done about it. 



Under the new law of Congress (approved June 6, 1896), 

 that counterfeit article now legally known as " filled cheese," 

 although more correctly "lard cheese," is subjected to the 

 same general provisions for preserving its identity and mak- 

 ing it unmistakably known to buyers in any quantity as in 

 the case of oleomargarine. This cheese law is even more 

 drastic in its operation, because the license fee to retail 

 dealers is so large in proportion to their average gross sales 

 that very few of these licenses are being taken out, and 

 hence there are no legal agencies for retailing this com- 

 modity, or next to none. Retail trade in filled cheese is 

 hardly profital^le enough to tempt dealers to sell in violation 

 of the revenue laws, and risk the severe penalties attached. 

 Filled cheese seems likely, therefore, to disappear from retail 

 markets all over the country. 



But, with the exception of a few State laws, there is 

 nothing to prevent the manufacture and sale in any quantity 

 of "skim cheese," or cheese made of skimmed milk. The 

 State laws which attempt any control of this matter simply 

 provide, as a rule, that skim cheese shall not be branded and 

 sold as "full cream;" some require that it shall be marked 

 with its true name, Wisconsin shape. But most of these 

 laws, in their execution if not in their intent, refer to cheese 

 m.ade of fully skimmed milk, or that which contains very 

 little fat. This class of cheese little needs legal restriction 

 or an identifying label; it is easy to recognize, and, while 

 varying somewhat according to skill in making, will ordina- 



