614 



Canadian Forestry Journal, July, ipid. 



troversy that has been going on for 

 years before it was possible to per- 

 suade parliament to protect the in- 

 dustry against fraudulent manufac- 

 turers. For a long time, city manu- 

 facturers, who never went near a 

 maple bush, have been putting up a 

 mixture of cane, sugar and water 

 flavored either with a small per- 

 centage of maple syrup or with an 

 essence called "Mapleine." These 

 syrups and sugars were labelled 

 with such names as "Maple flavor 

 syrup," "Maple compound," etc., 

 while many were not labelled at all. 

 From the following table will be 

 seen the extent to which this sys- 

 tematic adulteration has injured the 

 maple industry, more especially 

 since 1890. 



Years. Production of Sugar 



lbs. 



1850-60 135,000,000 



1860-70 175,000,000 



1870-80 190,000,000 



1880-90 225,000,000 



1890-1900 212,000,000 



1900-10 196,000,000 



Adulteration Stopped. 



In 1900 the first steps were taken 

 in protest. In that year, 2,000 sugar 

 makers signed a petition which they 

 presented to the Hon. Sydney 

 Fisher, then Minister of Agricul- 

 ture. The difticulty at that time was 

 the impossibility of obtaining chem- 

 ical tests whereby cane and beet 

 sugar could be detected in the inaple 

 product. In 1904 the Agricultural 

 Department of the State of Vermont 

 discovered that by using subacetate 

 of lead they could determine if 

 maple sugar or syrup were adulter- 

 ated. This was of material assist- 

 ance to our Inland Revenue Depart- 

 ment, and in Feb., 1915, a bulletin 

 was issued giving tho results of 

 chemical tests on a number of syrups 

 and sugars. It was found that 76 

 per cent of this collection was adul- 

 terated and only 24 per cent pure. 

 The publication evidently had a 

 beneficial effect for in Mav of the 



same year, a second test was made 

 which showed a decided improve- 

 ment, only 34 per cent being adul- 

 terated. From that time the De- 

 partment has issued annual bul- 

 letins, but, finding it impossible to 

 stop adulteration, the act already 

 referred to was placed upon the 

 statute books. A most gratifying 

 result is shown in Bulletin 325, just 

 recently issued although dated 

 October, 1915, according to which 

 only 15 per cent of the samples were 

 found impure. On looking over 

 these pamphlets from year to year 

 the names of the same oft'enders 

 occur again and again. Evidently 

 the policy has been to pay the an- 

 nual fine and proceed as before. 

 Prior to April, 1915, the fine was 

 merely nominal, but under the new 

 regulations it is to be hoped that 

 an end will be put to the fraud. 



The Word "Maple." 



The amendment of the Adultera- 

 tion Act prohibits the manufacture 

 and sale of adulterated maple syrup 

 or sugar, and restricts the word 

 "Maple" to pure maple sugar or 

 syrup, imposing a fine of from $50 

 to $500 and costs for wilful adul- 

 teration ; and from $50 to $200 and 

 costs for the sale of the adulterated 

 article. 



While the fight has apparently 

 been won, it is felt that only by 

 eternal vigilance will it be possible 

 to protect the honest maker. Those 

 who have been instrumental in 

 bringing about these important re- 

 forms are naturally much encour- 

 aged and feel that the maple in- 

 dustry stands on the threshold of a 

 great development, with the un- 

 limited markets of Great Britain 

 and the United States lying before 

 it. 



Messrs. D. A. Macdonald and C. 

 H. Morse, of the Dominion Forest 

 Service, have been elected associate 

 members of the Canadian Society of 



Forest Engineers. 



