758 



GLEAMNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



Whenever sold in competition with pure goods, of 

 course the adulterated goods undersold them; and the 

 uncertainty attaching to all liquid sweets led many 

 dealers into the purchase of the imitation article as 

 being really more satisfactory to their trade at the 

 prices at which it is offered than would be the genuine 

 article. The assurances that the consumers will now 

 have under the pure-food laws, if they take suflicient 

 care in their purchases, will seemingly warrant them 

 in buying as genuine such maple sugar and molasses 

 as will be oltered to them. 



While Vermont is the largest maple-sugar producer 

 in the country, there are also other sections that are 

 large producers; and on the basis of 1.5 cents per pound 

 it would now seem that the maple-sugar crop of the 

 United States will reach a total value of five or six 

 millions of dollars. We are inclined, however, to 

 doubt to some extent the maintenance of the 15 to 20 

 cents value per pound for the entire crop; but we shall 

 sincerely hope that such prices will be maintained, in 

 order to induce the maple-sugar makers to supply 

 consumers with the genuine article. 



all the requirements of the national pure-food 

 law. 



THE OUTLOOK FOR THE SYRUP AND HONEY 

 TRADE. 



Unless all signs fail, the market for honey 

 this fall will be higher than it has been for 

 some time, for very good reasons. The ma- 

 ple-syrnp market was in fairly gocd shape, 

 and the price is very high. The syrup 

 iiiai'ket also seems to be in a bad way, 

 but for very different reasons. Hitherto glu- 

 cose and molasses (or cane syrup) were 

 blended and sold as "corn syrup," and the 

 glucose people have flattered themselves this 

 would be continued for a long time to come. 

 It is evident the Department of Agriculture 

 at Washington regards both products as det- 

 rimental to the health of the persons who eat 

 them. No action has yet been taken by the 

 Department to declare them so, but it is evi- 

 dent it is only a question of time when both 

 will be barred. 



The experience of the Corn Products Co., in 

 New York, Pennsylvania, and other States, 

 goes to show what is coming when the na- 

 tional pure-food law is actively put in force. 

 It is evident that the federal authorities are 

 not going to be more lenient than the indi- 

 vidual States have been. The people have, 

 however, been reading up on this matter, and 

 a great many are refusing to buy these syr- 

 ups, law or no law. It is evident, also, that 

 the glucose trust is preparing to give up the 

 struggle, and some of their products are said 

 to be entirely withdrawn from certain States. 

 The cane- planters in Louisiana realize that 

 the days of common molasses are numbered; 

 and the Louisiana Planter, the leading paper 

 of the cane-sugar industry, thinks it would 

 be advisable to go back to the old open-ket- 

 tle process, and to feed the present-day mo- 

 lasses to mules and cattle. 



It is perfectly clear from this that the days 

 of cheap syrup are over, and in its place a 

 much superior product will appear in due 

 time. A sugar organ, The Federal Reporter, 

 says, "The demand for molasses has been 

 somewhat curtailed by the agitation regard- 

 ing the national pure-food law," and that is 

 undoubtedly true. 



It is evident from this that honey will have 

 less competition than it has had for some 

 time; for, with the exception of maple syrup, 

 of which there is a small supply, it is the 

 only syrup which completely complies with 



MISBRANDING; HONEY-DRIPS. 



A SHORT time ago a company was selling 

 what it called a "cereal coffee. ' The Unit- 

 ed States Department of Agriculture, so we 

 are told, ruled that such a branding was 

 contrary to the provisions of the national 

 pure-food law; that the word "coffee" form- 

 ing a part o- the label could not be used to 

 designate a certain drink unless it contained 

 a fair percentage of coffee, and it contained 

 no coffee. 



Another case, somewhat similar to this, 

 has come up recently, in which the manufac- 

 turers of rye flour desired to know if they 

 could use the name "rye flour" to designate 

 a product largely rye flour, but containing a 

 small percentage of wheat flour, which could 

 be worked more easily than the pure article. 



The Department ruled that such name 

 could not be used unless it were qualified by 

 adopting the name "rye-flour compound," 

 "rye-flour blend," or "rye-flour mixture;" 

 and then only when the two ingredients can 

 be regarded as like substances. "It is fur- 

 ther neld that the use of an ingredient in 

 small quantity, simply for the purpose of 

 naming it in the list of ingredients, would be 

 contrary to the intent of the law, and there- 

 fore that the ingredients must be used in 

 quantities which would justify the appear- 

 ance of their names upon the label. The 

 statement made of the constituents used 

 should be of a character to indicate plainly 

 that the article is a compound, mixture, or 

 blend. It is evident from the above explan- 

 ation that the naming of a mixture of this 

 kind ' rye flour ' would be plainly a violation 

 the law and the regulations made there- 

 under." 



More recently a case has come up that 

 bears more directly on the honey business. 

 It is this: 



A correspondent in the South refers us to 

 a food preparation having a beautiful label 

 in colors bearing the words "Honey-drips." 

 Just below these words appears this: "Cane 

 syrup, 15 per cent; corn syrup, 85 per cent " 

 Note that honey is not mentioned as an in- 

 gredient. The label shows a beautiful sprig 

 of apple-blossom; and the inference is that 

 these honey-drips come directly from these 

 blossoms. Now the question comes up right 

 here, "Can this article he named honey-drips 

 without violating the provisions of the law, 

 even if the percentages of glucose and cane 

 syrup are given on tne label?" Apparently 

 not; for honey does not enter into the com- 

 position of the article in even a small quan- 

 tity. To simmer the whole thing down in a 

 nutshell, Uncle Sam apparently does not 

 propose to allow anybody to use the word 

 honey to designate an article that contains 

 no honey whatever. It must be largely hon- 

 ey; and if any other ingredient was used 

 with it, it would have to use the word " hon- 

 ey-compound " or "honey-blend " or "hon- 

 ey-mixture." Our dear uncle has ruled 

 rightly. 



