114 maine agricultural experiment station. ,1912. 



Sausage. 



In purchasing the samples of sausage reported in the tables 

 the inspectors entered the store and, like any other customer, 

 called for a pound of pork sausage. ' The inspector took what 

 was delivered to him, paid for the same, and left the store 

 without explanation. Along with the results of the chemical 

 examination of these goods are reported the number of net 

 ounces delivered and the prices paid for the same. Upon 

 leaving the store with his purchase in each case the inspector 

 transferred the sausage to an air tight jar in which it was 

 kept until it was delivered to the laboratory for analysis, where 

 it was promptly weighed and examined. In those cases where 

 the full pound was delivered to the inspector and there was no 

 cereal present and no other indication of adulteration the goods 

 were passed without comment. Whenever cereal was present 

 without statement of that fact accompanying the goods or 

 whenever the goods delivered were short weight the cases were 

 investigated further by means of hearings, as directed by law. 



It is gratifying to note that the general situation in regard 

 to the sale of sausage is, like the trade in nearly every class of 

 food products, much improved throughout the State over what 

 it was a short time ago. Straight pork sausage can be and is 

 made and sold as such. For certain markets the sausage con- 

 tains cereal and in most cases that fact is stated both upon 

 placards or notices as the goods are displayed in the market or 

 store, and also by means of labels or tags of some kind accom- 

 panying each retail package as the customer receives the goods. 



Vanilla Extracts. 



The source of pure vanilla extract is the vanilla bean, which 

 is the fruit of the plant known botanically as Vanilla planifolea. 

 It is a climbing perennial indigenous to Central and South 

 xAmerica and the West Indies. The quality of the bean varies 

 considerably with the climate in which it is grown and the 

 method of curing. When the beans are first gathered they are 

 a light greenish color, fleshy, without odor, and their peculiar 

 consistency, color and smell is developed by the fermenting or 

 curing process they are put through, which varies in different 

 •countries. The choicest beans which come to this countrv are 



