Notes on the Society's Work in 1897-1918. xvii. 



fully recognised by its awards to him the worthy nature of his work in 

 preparing meals from colony-grown materials, and cattle-foods as their 

 by-product. These awards settled the question as to whom credit for 

 first preparing such products on the small commercial scale is due. 



Under present war-conditions the position with regard to locally- 

 produced foodstuffs has become very acute. The Government has adopted 

 the report of a special Committee and is endeavouring to get from the 

 United States the machinery for the equipment of a factory for convert- 

 ing rice and maize into ground rice, rice flour, and cornflour. The 

 success of this should be assured and should lead in the future to an 

 export trade in ground rice and rice flour. It is hope 1 that it will be 

 feasible to equip the factory for the commercially successful production 

 of various flours from plantains, bananas, cassava, various pulses and 

 ground provisions generally. It must, hov/ever, be carefully borne in 

 mind that a factory of this sort working on a commercial scale is an 

 entirely novel proposition. It is one which we hope will prove successful, 

 but it will be entirely dependent for success in its working on receiving 

 ample supplies of the various raw materials from planters and farmers. 

 Unless it can work continuously and at its full power its failure is a 

 foregone conclusion. 



At present there is an acute necessity for the increased local produc- 

 tion of foodstuffs of every sort. Fortunately the great areas now 

 cultivated each year in rice ensures our cereal supply. We can readily 

 add to our supply of nitrogenous foodstuffs by the cultivation of pulses. 

 Fats are our main difficulty ; the sole sources being butter, ghee, 

 margarine, and lard, from live-stock and coconuts. I will consider the 

 position of live-stock and coconuts later in this address. 



Our present position regarding foodstuffs is, in my opinion, a very 

 serious one which calls for strenuous efforts on the part of all cultivators, 

 large as well as small. If the larger agricultural proprietors do not set 

 an example we cannot reasonably expect the smaller ones to do so. We 

 must give up our favourite position of " Words not work " and we must' 

 recollect that in our case the adoption of the motto " Wait and see " will 

 almost inevitably result in its transfer to a more practical form of 

 "Waited and starved." 



Adulteration of Foods. 



This Society has at intervals given attention to the important subject 

 of adulteration of food. It did so soon after my arrival in th> colony in 

 1889 and as soon as it becam; feasible the Government requested me to 

 make special investigation into the alleged prevalence of adulteration in 

 foodstuffs imported into the colony. Assisted by the late Mr. J. Williams, 

 F.I.C., then my private Assistant, and at the time of his death in July 

 last year First Assistant Analyst I did so, and the results caused the 

 Government to take action by passing an effective Ordinance for controlling 

 the Sale of Food and Draws in 1892. When I was last President of the 

 Society the campaign against adulterated foodstuffs hail been carried on 

 energetically for some three or four years. Since then the Government 

 Laboratory has given steadily increasing attention to the Ordinance ; the 



