1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1491 



GETTING IN THE FACTS ON SUGAR. 



The United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture has finally decided to conduct an ex- 

 haustive inquiry into the present methods of 

 manufacturing sugar and molasses, and a 

 staff of experts will proceed soon to the su- 

 gar-plantation of Messrs. Holloway & Hollo- 

 way, in the neighborhood of Plaquemine, La , 

 where a course of experiments will be con- 

 ducted with the view of settling certain moot- 

 ed questions that are now discussed in con- 

 nection with the national pure-food law. 



At first Dr. Wiley intended to direct these 

 experiments under his own personal super- 

 intendence; but Secretary Wilson has decid- 

 ed he can not be spared from Washington 

 just at present. Professors E. M. Chace, A. 

 H. Bryan, and C. E. Dodge, of the govern- 

 ment pure-food staff, will conduct the experi- 

 ments, which will be of the most complete 

 kind. 



The investigation will center around the 

 presence of sulphites in sugar and molasses, 

 which, advanced pure-food advocates claim, 

 are injurious to the human system; whereas 

 the sugar-men hold these are not injurious 

 in small quantities, probably because it is 

 convenient for them to use sulphuric acid or 

 sulphur in refining their products. 



A great deal hinges on the results of this 

 inquiry. 



The sugar-makers claim their methods are 

 above criticism; but Dr. Wiley differs with 

 them, and he is known as a sugar-expert.. 

 Already there has been a considera ble change, 

 and phosphoric acid is again coming into use, 

 though it is dearer. Much of the molasses 

 formerly sold quite freely is now being con- 

 verted into stock foods, rum, or alcohol. 

 Cane syrup is now being sold without the 

 addition of glucose, and almost all the mak- 

 ers have decided to stop adulterating with 

 glucose. 



The results of this inquiry will prove of 

 very great importance to bee-keepers; for 

 should the findings of this committee be di- 

 rectly against sulphites, glucose syrup will 

 have to submit to scientific regulation which 

 will rob it of its power to depress the price 

 of all syrups, honey included. 



It is to be hoped Dr. Wiley will be able to 

 "make good" on this matter; at least bee- 

 keepers hope he will succeed in making out 

 his case. w. k. m. 



THE ADULTERATED-FOOD MANUFACTURERS 

 BEING FORCED TO QUIT BUSINESS. 



We are informed by a traveling man, one 

 who is in position to know what he is talk- 

 ing about, that one very large concern that 

 has been doing an extensive Dusiness in put- 

 ting up adulterated food preparations, such 

 as cheap jellies and syrup, has been compel- 

 led, owing to the action of the new national 

 pure-food law, to close its doors. So long 

 as it could sell its bogus goods under some 

 honest name, and with no law to stop it, it 

 could do a thriving business; but the new 

 law, that absolutely puts a stop to misbrand- 

 ing, has made it necessary for this firm to 

 suspend. Nor is it by any means an isolat- 



ed case. Dozens of these concerns that for- 

 merly did a thriving business in putting up 

 bogus food stuffs are now compelled to shut 

 up shop. 



The question maybe asked, "Why could 

 not these same people go into the business 

 of selling honest goods?" Simply for the 

 reason that the consumers who have been 

 paying a fair price for genuine maple syrup 

 and genuine fruit jellies will continue to go 

 to the concerns of whom they have always 

 bought. If these other fellows attempt to 

 put up pure goods, and sell them at a living 

 profit, packers that have always done an 

 honest business would have such a lead that 

 the others would get no show, and conse- 

 quently one or the other of them will have 

 to quit business. 



Henceforth and for ever it is apparent that, 

 when a jar is labeled "Pure Fruit Jelly," it 

 will be a genuine article, or that somebody 

 will be running a tremendous risk; and no 

 one, apparently, cares to take that risk. 

 The same thing is going to be true of syrups 

 and honey, and, in fact, it is so already, and 

 since last October the full force of the law 

 has been in effect. It will be a sorry day 

 for the concern or company that attempts to 

 misbrand any food or medicine. 



Of course, it will be true that there will be 

 on the market gelatine jellies, adulterated 

 syrups, and honey; but the label in every 

 case will have to show, in plain type, every 

 ingredient. 



THE FEARFUL DESTRUCTION OF OUR FOR- 

 ESTS, AND THE ATTITUDE OF PRESIDENT 

 ROOSEVELT ON THE SUBJECT. 



In the various speeches of President Roos- 

 evelt in his trip southward, at different places 

 he has referred to the awful waste of our re- 

 sources in a way that should command the 

 attention of the entire country. In his Mem- 

 phis speech he said, "We are face to face 

 with the great fact that the whole future of 

 the nation is practically at stake in the mo- 

 mentous decision that is forced upon us. 

 Shall we continue the waste and destruction 

 of our natural resources, or shall we con- 

 serve them? " Then he goes on to speak of 

 the destruction of our forests and of the 

 washing-away of valuable soil as a result of 

 this leveling-down of the timber. 



Accompanying President Roosevelt on this 

 trip was Chief Forester Pinchot, a man who 

 has given this subject a large amount of at- 

 tention and thought. Indorsing the Presi- 

 dent he says, "The United States has already 

 crossed the verge of a timber famine so se- 

 vere that its blighting effects will be felt in 

 every household in the land." So severe is 

 this famine that he estimates that our supply 

 of lumber at the present rate will be ex- 

 hausted in about thirty-three years. 



It appears that our forests, in addition to 

 furnishing material that we may say is indis- 

 pensable, has, until late years, prevented to 

 a great extent the washings of the mountain- 

 sides that at present carry away valuable 

 soil, and these unrestrained Hoods rush into 



