442 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



through the press and in other waj's, which is of an absolutely 

 misleading and dishonest nature. They continually call 

 attention to the food value and healthfulness of oleomarga- 

 rine, and quote what some "prominent medical man" says 

 of its value. All this talk is deceptive. No one claims at 

 this day that oleomargarine is unhealthful, though it is less 

 digestible than butter. Its melting point is higher than the 

 melting point of butter, and when taken into the stomach a 

 higher degree of animal heat must be secured before the oleo- 

 margarine can be melted than is necessary to digest butter. 

 This is an important fact in the case of persons of weak diges- 

 tion. It is also a fact that, by reason of lacking the vohitile 

 oils which give butter its delicate taste, oleomargarine is less 

 digestible than butter. The delicate and palatable flavors in 

 food have a purpose in promoting the secretion of the salivary 

 juices, and, so far as oleomargarine is lacking in these flavors, 

 it is relatively less digestible than butter. 



But the agitation for restrictive laws and their justification 

 rests on other grounds. No one denies that suet and lard are 

 harmless food fats and that under ordinary circumstances, if 

 people desire to use them, they should be given an opportu- 

 nity to do so. But when these fats are mixed and colored to 

 imitate yellow butter, whatever may be the scientific food 

 vakie of the product, as an article of commerce it is not sold 

 on its merits but on account of the skill of the imitation. 

 There is no demand for oleomargarine of a white color. The 

 whole history of the "trade is a history fraught with misrepre- 

 sentation. Oleomargarine never has been put on the market 

 and advertised on its merits for its distinctive food value. It 

 has always been pushed on account of its similarity to butter. 

 It is packed in butter tubs, it is colored with butter color, 

 and of late years the trade has adopted the name " butterine," 

 in preference to the older and more correct form, " oleomar- 

 garine." These facts are so self-evident, and the deceit is 

 so palpable that it is recognized even by the paragraphers 

 who manufacture the jokes for the humorous papers ; and one 

 of them represents a person asking his grocer how " b-u-t- 

 t-e-r-i-n-e " is pronounced, and the answer is, " With the last 

 syllable silent." 



These laws are sometimes the subject of sneers, as " being 



