440 
Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist." [Dec. 1, 1899. 
The milk was delivered to his customers direct 
from tlie cow, and he at no time had ever received 
t he slightest complaint from any of the 400 persons 
he served. Other witnesses corroborated the 
lestiraony of the defendant as to the milk being 
delivered to the customers direct from the cow, 
and that complaints were at no time received as to 
the quality of the milk supplied. 
Henry Wilson, mannger of the dniry department 
of the Fresh Food and Ice Company, stated that 
he had acted as judge at many Shows. Defendant 
exhibited his cows, and won prizes with them. 
The method of feeding described by defendant, 
and the nature of the food mentioned, was as good 
as it could be for stall-fed cattle. Of course, grass 
was the best of all food for milk purposes. 
Mr. Ferguson submitted that to be an offence 
under the Act it must be one of adulteration, and 
the evidence showed the very opposite. The milk 
was sent out direct from the cow in a pure state, 
and that was what the Act required of the vendor, 
and nothing more. If in this case a fine was 
imposed the defendant was injured in the eyes of 
hii? 400 customers, not one of whom, if they were 
in Court and heard the evidence, would believe 
that .they had received anything else but pure 
milk. 
Mr. Isaacs said that whatever might be his 
decision he was satisfied that the milk had not 
been tampered with after it left the cow, and 
before it was delivered to the consumer. 
Mr. Ealston submitted that all he had to prove 
was that the milk was not up to the standard 
provided by the Government. That had been 
done, and he asked for a conviction. 
Mr. Isaacs said he considered that the only 
question he had to decide was whe'her this milk 
was up to the standard fixed by the Government 
on the recommendation of the Board of Health. 
He, however, stated expressly that he considered 
that this milk was sold as it was token from the 
cow, and that defendant had done his best — and 
more than 99 out of every 100 milk vendors did — 
to supply his customers with milk of the best 
possible quality. He was sure that defendant's 
bona fides was perfectly clear, but as the milk was 
not up to the required standard he would convict 
the defendant and order him to pay a minimum 
penalty of 5s., with 21s. professional costs, and 
10s. 6d. analyst's fees added, in default levy and 
distress. The defendant intimated his intention 
of appealing to the Supreme Court on the decision. 
The points relied upon by Mr. Ferguson, the 
defendant's counsel, in his appeal are as follows : — 
The Public Health Act of 1896, s. 62, provides 
(inter alia) that: "Every person who to the 
prejudice of the purchaser sells any food or drug 
which is not of the nature, substance or quality of 
the food or drug demanded by such purchaser 
shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding i'20." 
Section 63 provides that " Any person who sells 
a food or drug sliall deliver the same to the pur- 
chaser in its pure state." A breach of this section 
is deemed an offence under the preceding section. 
Wedlock, the defendant in this case, was charged 
under the 62nd section with Selling to the prejudice 
of the i)urchaser an article of food, to wit, certain 
milk, the same not being of the quality of food 
demanded by him. 
Section 53 of the Act empowers the Governor, 
on the recommendation of the Board of Health, to 
fix limits of stiength and purity for articles of 
general consumption, but it does not go on to 
make it an offence to sell articles which are not iti 
conformitv witli this standard. In pursuance of 
this section the Governor has fixed the standard of 
milk as follows: — Natural milk solids to be not 
less than 12 per cent, of which the fat shall be 
three-and-two-tenths per cent. Wedlock's milk 
fell short of this standard in butter fat and other 
solids, and the magistrate held that this constitui ed 
an offence under the Act, although it was proved 
to his satisfaction that the milk was sold as it 
came from the cow, without anything added to or 
taken from it; that the cows were of the best 
possible qualitj', fed in the best possible way, and 
that everything possible was done by the defendant 
to get the best milk. 
The defendaiit's contention was that though 
the law authorised the fixing of a standard, there 
was nothing in the Act to make it an offence to 
sell milk which' deviated in quality from the 
standard, and that having sold puie milk fresh 
from the cow he had thereby supplied a customer 
who asked for milk with milk of the quality 
demanied by him. 
» ■ . 
FIBKOUS PLANTS. 
{Continued.) 
While 30 or 40 species of plants supply the 
world's demand for commercial fibres, hundreds 
of fibrous plants could readily be enumerated, 
the simple fibrous matter in many of which 
to outward appearance is just as good as the 
fibre of the commercial species widely cultivated. 
There are many wild plants for instance which 
produce fibre stronger and better than jute. Such 
plants have been the subject of constant enquiry, 
and in considering them as a source of fibre 
there are many points to be taken into con- 
sideration. We should enquire whether the plant 
is capable of successful cultivation, what its uses 
will be in manufacture, what commercial fibre 
it will replace or be a substitute for. In fact 
this latter point is the most important to be 
settled, for the present commercial fibres repre- 
sent in a sense those that have stood the test 
of experience, and until these are crowded out 
by new conditions, or through what might be 
termed evolution in the economic arts, they will 
have no chance. The only opportunity which 
may be afforded these secondary forms is in 
the creation of special uses to which they may 
be peculiarly adapted, for which the standard 
forms known to the market are not so well 
fitted. Should a fibre be "promising" it would 
need to be subjected to chemical and micros- 
copic study to determine the length of the ulti- 
mate fibre cell, the proportion of cellulose, and 
any other elements which would give it its 
rating among textiles. By such technical study 
wo are enabled to obtain direct knowledge of 
the species, and in a measure to avoidlong and 
costly economic experimentation. 
Experiments for the developments or extension 
of vegetable fibre industries under Governmental 
