1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
207 
THE TAX ON OLEOMARGARINE. 
[The R. N.-Y. recently asked Ex-Assistant 
Commissioner B. F. Van Valkenburgh to give his 
opinion regarding the proposed tax on oleomar¬ 
garine. Mr. Van Valkenburgh knows the oleo 
laws thoroughly.] 
The passage of laws upon, the subject 
of taxing colored oleomargarine at a 
higher rate than uncolored, or not to tax 
the uncolored goods at all, will, accord¬ 
ing to the best information obtainable 
when the present revenue law to tax oleo¬ 
margarine was before Congress in 1885 6, 
be a waste of time and money. We were 
then informed by the Committees of Agri¬ 
culture of both Houses, and by the Judic¬ 
iary Committee, that Congress can pass 
revenue laws, but cannot base them upon 
the fraudulent or unwholesome charac¬ 
ter of the article taxed, hence that a law 
that made any distinction between col¬ 
ored and uncolored oleomargarine would 
be construed to mean that the goods 
were taxed upon the basis of their fraud¬ 
ulent or unwholesome character, and 
that such a law would not stand when 
tested in the courts. Why should there 
be any distinction between the colored 
a ad uncolored? Both are fraudulent 
iniitations of butter. The New York 
State law, and the laws of several other 
States, prohibit the sale of oleomargarine 
when made in “ imitation or semblance 
of natural butter.” At the present time, 
very little color is being added to butter, 
hence the color of a large percentage of 
creamery butter is so light that oleo¬ 
margarine can be made without coloring, 
that will be very nearly, if not quite, as 
yellow as a large percentage of the 
creamery butter. Therefore, even though 
we could get a law passed taxing col¬ 
ored oleomargarine, and not the uncol¬ 
ored goods, it would tend to weaken our 
dairy laws, and eventually bring about 
just what the manufacturers of oleo¬ 
margarine have been for years trying to 
get, that is, a decision of the courts that 
uncolored oleomargarine is not in viola¬ 
tion of our State law that provides that 
they cannot sell the goods when made in 
imitation or semblance of butter. 
Taxing colored oleomargarine and not 
the uncolored is a step backward, while 
we should continue to hold all we have, 
and get still more stringent laws in all 
the States, and a higher tax upon every 
pound manufactured, whether colored or 
uncolored. We should labor to get all 
State laws uniform, with the imitation 
and semblance clause in them, then we 
shall be in line with the case of the State 
of Massachusetts vs. Plumby, decided 
by the United States Supreme Court, 
which sustained the imitation and sem¬ 
blance. B F. VAN VALKENBURGH. 
EDUCATING FOR BUTTER / NE. 
Mr. A. Chase Thompson says that the 
worst competitor of pure butter in our 
markets is butterine. This stuff con¬ 
tains large and varying per cents of 
butter. In introducing this compound 
to new customers, the manufacturers 
instruct their agents to begin with a 
brand containing a large per cent of 
butter, we will say 75 per cent, and 
designated, perhaps, as No. 5. After 
this has been in use for a time, and the 
consumers have become accustomed to 
it, they are to substitute for it, say No. 
4, containing 70 per cent of butter. • This 
satisfies them all right, perhaps, when 
the probability is that, if it had been 
furnished first, there would have been a 
protest. This grade is continued for 
some time, and then No. 3 is substituted 
quietly, and later, still other grades still 
lower in per cent of butter fat. 
Where the end will be, no one can say, 
but it is certain that it means a demor¬ 
alization of the taste for pure butter, 
and destruction of the market for that 
product. It is educating consumers in 
the wrong direction. It is a deliberate 
attempt to create a vitiated and depraved 
taste, with the intent to satisfy it later 
with a fraudulent article, at the ex¬ 
pense, and in place of a pure and whole¬ 
some one, which most consumers believe 
they are getting. 
Chicago Milk. —Samples of milk taken 
from the average supply in Chicago show 
a very inferior average. Most of the 
lower-priced milk seems to be partly 
skimmed or adulterated with water. 
The bottled milk seems to be better than 
that dipped out of the can. The Chi¬ 
cago Milk Trust seems to be failing to 
carry out its plan. The public were in¬ 
vited to take stock in the milk company, 
but there was not enough confidence in 
the concern to warrant any large sales. 
Nobody doubts that a few honest men 
could greatly reduce the cost of handling 
the milk supply, but there is not much 
confidence in the character of the men 
back of this scheme. 
A Breeder’s Gazette writer recommends the 
following mixture for killing lice on hogs; five 
ounces of mercurial ointment, two ounces of car¬ 
bolic acid, one ounce of pennyroyal, two ounces 
of flowers of sulphur, and five ounces either of 
tallow or lard. This will answer for 15 100-pound 
shotes. It is mixed and smeared with a little 
wooden paddle on fence posts, trees or stumps, 
or wherever the hogs rub. 
John B. Peelle said, at the meeting of the 
Continental Dorset Club: “During the dressed- 
lamb season, the greatest delicacy in the world 
is left for the grower—the tongues and brains. 
When a boy, I read of an eastern potentate who 
dined every day on nightingales’ tongues. If he 
were living now in our country, and knew what 
we know, he would eschew such common fare, 
and dine upon the tongues of Dorset lambs.” 
The papers tell of a horse in New Brunswick, 
N. J., that is in the habit of hauling a baker’s 
wagon from house to house. He was driven by a 
boy, but one Sunday morning, the boy was killed 
while crossing a railroad track, and the wagon 
cut away from the horse, and broken. The horse, 
after waiting for a time and finding that his 
driver did not appear, passed over his ordinary 
route, drawing up to the door of each house, 
waiting the proper time for a delivery, and then 
passing on. He made the entire circuit alone, 
and then went back to his stable, not missing a 
single customer. 
A Choice of Breeds. —I am frequently asked by 
correspondents why I selected the Jersey and 
Belted cattle. I studied the case for a year, and 
finally decided that, for butter, the Jersey was as 
good as any, and for a general-purpose cow, the 
Dutch Belted suits me as well as any pure breed 
that I know. The bulls seldom get ugly, but the 
Jersey bulls that I have raised, generally get 
cross, although I have one now, five years old, 
that is as gentle as an ox, while his sire was very 
cross, and some of his descendants have been 
so much so as to be dangerous. In fact, we 
killed one last Fall, two years old, that I wanted 
to keep, but was afraid to do so. Before decid¬ 
ing what breed is best suited to his needs, the 
party in interest would naturally take into con¬ 
sideration all the circumstances of his case, and 
what would best suit him might not be best for 
some one else. For instance, we have a Hol¬ 
stein cow that, upon upland pasture, gives a 
large mess of fairly good milk, but on lowland 
pasture, the quality is not so good, but the quan¬ 
tity greater. When cows come in early, veals can 
be fattened to advantage, and then the beef 
breeds score a point, for one Durham or Hereford 
veal'will usually bring as much as two of even 
grade butter blood. j. d. van valkenburgh. 
Ensilage From Fodder.— Has any one cut corn 
stalks for ensilage after the corn has matured, 
so as to crib the corn and then cut and put the 
stalks in the silo ? c. w. s. 
Mercer County, N. J. 
Ans.—T hree years ago, we had a number of 
accounts from farmers who husked their corn in 
the usual way. Then, after the ordinary Fall 
work was done, the stalks were brought to the 
silo, and cut into it, about half a barrel of water 
being added to each ton at the time of filling. 
This filling went on slowly, and the stalks were 
kept moist. The heat rose considerably after 
the silo was filled, and the result was a fair 
quality of ensilage. The waste, however, was 
larger than when the green stalks were put into 
the silo. A number of farmers tried this method 
of utilizing the stalks, and reported fair success, 
but most of them seem to have given it up, al¬ 
though we are unable to say just what the trouble 
was. 
Top Price Butter. 
The kind that a fancy private 
trade demands, is colored with 
Thatcher’s Orange Butter Color — 
the color that does not contain 
any poison. Send for a sample. 
THATCHER MFG. CO., Potsdam, H.Y. 
The Cowy Odor 
which is so prominent 
in much of the dairy 
butter, and which is 
so offensive to many 
people is the result of 
dirt; real fine dirt 
that can’t be strained 
out. The Little Giant 
Separator takes out all 
the dirt, produces a 
perfect flavor and 
greatly increases the 
product. It is the 
safest, easiest cleaned, 
and requires less repairs than any small separa¬ 
tor made. Send for Catalogue No. 25. 
P. M. SHARPLES, 
Branches: West Chester, Pa. 
Toledo, O. Omaha, Neb. 
Dubuque, la. St. Paul, Minn. 
San Francisco. Cal. 
Milk Keeps Sweet 
from 12 to 30 hours longer when 
properly cooled and aerated. City 
people are not afraid of it and buy 
more milk. In the dairy and 
•creamery it makes more and 
“better butter. It makes more 
finer flavored cheese. The 
PERFECTION 
MILK COOLER AND AERATOR 
takes out all bad odors of animal, stable or feed 
and makes perfect milk. Sizes from 1 to 200 cows. 
Send for prices and catalogue of Farm & Dairy supplies. 
L. R. LEWIS, Manfr., Box 12, Cortland, N. Y. 
SAVE YOUR MONEY. 
Every ounce of butter fat (cream) which escapes into the 
skim milk is money lost. The calves and pigs get it, but 
you can’t afford to feed them on cream. Our improved 
Patent Aquatic Cream Separator 
take* out all the cream In two h on i*’* time. 
bBeuts the best creamery made and costs less than half as 
[much. For 1 cow up to 40. Price. $. r >. to $11. Write 
tor FREE catalogue and testimonials. VVe want 
l reliable agent* In every locality. 
Aquatic Cream Sep’torCo. 119 Factory Sq. Watertown,N.Y. 
THERE IS MONEY IN THE DAIRY BUSINESS 
IF YOU USE THE 
Improved U. S. Triple Current Separator. 
With it a better grade of butter is possible, and there is no 
'loss of cream. It also is simple, durable, easy 
to operate and clean. 
U. S. Butter Brings 5 cents above Market Price. 
Cannes, Iowa, Nov. 24 , 1898 . 
Have used a No. 6 Improved U. S. Separator about one and 
one-half years, and must say I am more than pleased with it. We 
have no trouble to sell our butter to regular customers for about five 
cents above market price, and sometimes more. We are milking 
only five cows at present, but would not think of doing without the 
separator. Every farmer should have an Improved U. S. Separator, 
a, H. PAULSON. 
IP rite /or special 
catalogues. 
Yt. Farm Machine Co., Bellows Falls, Yt. 
HIGHEST PRIZE HONORS 
CREAM SEPARATORS 
T HE HE LAVAL CREAM SEPARATORS have received nearly Two Thous¬ 
and Prizes, Medals, Awards and Diplomas, during the twenty years they 
have been before the public. Five Hundred of these awards have been Prizes 
and Medals from Fairs and Exhibitions of marked importance. The collection is 
representative of every World’s Fair and International Exposition during such 
period, every State and almost every county of the United States, and every 
civilized country and province in the world. 
At the World’s Fair, Chicago, in 1893, the De Laval Cream Separators were 
solely selected by the Official Committee of Experts and Experiment Station 
Representatives for use in the Practical Working Dairy of the Great Fair, 
where their work received the highest possible commendation. And in the Ex¬ 
hibition Department they received exceptional honors in being awarded the only 
Medal and Diploma regularly given to centrifugal creaming apparatus. 
In the later World’s Expositions, at Antwerp in 1894 and Brussels in 1897, the 
De Laval machines well sustained their previous Fair and Exhibition record, 
and further demonstrated their overwhelming international superiority. They 
received the Grand Prizes at each of such expositions. 
At the Trans-Mississippi Exposition, Omaha, last year, while there was no 
competitive separator contest, the “ Alpha” De Laval machines received the only 
Gold Medal awarded exclusively on cream separators. 
The only important exposition competitive exhibits of cream separators during 
1898 were at Munich, Bavaria; Luxemburg, Germany, and Vienna, Austria. In 
each instance the Highest Award went to the “ Alpha” De Laval machines. 
Send for a New 1899 De Laval Catalogue. 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR CO. 
WESTERN OFFICES: 
Randolph and Canal Streets, 
CHICAGO. 
GENERAL OFFICES: 
74 Cortlandt Street, 
DIE W YORK. 
BRANCH OFFICES: 
1102 Arch Street, 
PHILADELPHIA. 
