Th* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
v 
The Oleo Question 
A Farmer's Wife and Oleo 
There are a few qu \sfions I would like 
to ask regarding the matter of the rural 
eon sumption of oleoma rgiuo. that we may 
<•01110 t<> a fair and logical conclusion as 
to the rights in the matter: 
Should a farmer coniine his menu as 
far as possible to articles of food raised 
or manufactured on his farm? Should 
an Irish potato grower buy sweet po¬ 
tatoes? An apple grower buy grapefruit? 
A stock farmer buy fish? A maker of 
maple syrup sell his product for So per 
gallon and use cane syrup if he chooses? 
If these practice* an allowable, why dis¬ 
criminate against the farmer who chooses 
oleo rather I ban butter for his table? 
In the country is is often difficult to 
find good dairy butter. Many disiike 
creamery butter. Oleo can be bought at 
less than half the price—and of Uniform 
flavor. It is cleaner than much of the 
“store” butter. If children and adults 
drink milk as they should—at least a 
quart, apiece each day—they will be as 
well nourished as though they got their 
vitamines in butter. I make and sell 
butter we do not use margarine, but if 
anyone feeds In* would rather spend his 
money on one article of food rather than 
another. I can't, see that if is any of my 
business. If butter is eventually crowded 
>mt, by oleo (which if won’t be!), we can 
do something else. If everyone used twice 
his customary amount of milk and cut 
out butter, it would he an easier way to 
market that, product, and save lots of 
work. Perhaps the slognu may some¬ 
time he—butter for the rich man, hut 
milk for all! 
Seriously, why should we light one an¬ 
other anyway? lines not all our food 
come from the soil? For example, we 
keep poultry. Should we object because 
Tilt: It. X.-Y. prints recipes for eggless 
cakes? Or a cake recipe that calls for 
Frisco instead of the butter of bygone 
days? Let us unite in lighting adultera¬ 
tion and misrepresentation in all food 
products, but leave people to decide for 
themselves on measures of economy. 
Genesee Go.. X. Y. ytiis. j. C. G. 
I{. X.-Y.—We can see little force to the 
comparisons between potatoes, sweet po¬ 
tatoes, etc. These are all genuine farm 
products—natural and not in any way 
counterfeits or substitutes. We can see 
no fair comparison between using cane 
syrup or maple, and using butter or oleo 
—except when the syriq > are adulterated. 
In this discussion we are quite willing 
to let our readers get legothcr and settle 
it in their own way. Let them under¬ 
stand the question fully and then decide. 
Who Are the Selfish Folks? 
We have been much interested in the 
discussions in Tin-: It. X.-Y. as to the use 
of oleo, particularly among dairymen. I 
think .T. !>.. Connecticut, is pretty sound 
in In's arguments, and we consider that 
“what we shall eat. or wherewithal we 
shall he clothed. ' is :i matter of individual 
choice, and no concern of other people, to 
he called in question for .sentiment. This 
may be all right, and to a certain extent 
admirable to follow, but it cuts no great 
figure in ordinary lines of trade. True, 
dairymen as well as the vast army of 
farmers who follow a diversified rule of 
operation, are facing hard conditions, and 
for their own interests are forced to go 
slow in following out vain theories. As a 
rule, we judge they arc as free from sel¬ 
fishness as any other class, and even 
more so. and they put in more hard bouts 
to secure a dollar than most of the toilers 
in other pursuits. They are willing to 
live and let. live, but, like all the rest, 
they are not. yet educated up to the exalt¬ 
ed standard of voluntarily making un¬ 
reasonable sacrifices to help out other 
people’s interests. 
Now, as to oleo. we all a*linit its use 
vastly affects the butter trade, being used 
most extensively in town and city, and, 
possibly, if some of these people who de¬ 
precate its use, were obliged to pay $1 
a. pound and even more for butter, as they 
would be obliged to do save for this sub¬ 
stitute. they might >ing a less plaintive 
song against oleo. More in this locality 
several brands of this substitute are kept 
in stock at the stores, some fairly good, 
some indifferent: several grades of “nut 
butter,” which the children seem to relish, 
and which answers for making sand¬ 
wiches, etc. Again, there are other 
brands, tasteless. white-livered com¬ 
pounds. along with which comes a little 
pack of coloring matter, which must- be 
worked through the package to give it any 
semblance to butter whatever. 
But there is one brand on the market 
which the writer makes bold to admit he 
uses in his own family, even though he 
owns a dozen or more cows, and we deem 
it the best of all the substitutes we have 
ever filled iu with. It lias a pleasant 
flavor, fairly good color (better of both 
than we often see iu some homemade 
dairy articles iu Winter), and the or¬ 
dinary consumer would hardly be able to 
distinguish it from the genuine article; it 
might bother an expert if lie were blind¬ 
fold, to detect lhe difference. For cook¬ 
ing purposes the true article is prefer¬ 
able : for ordinary table, use this .substi¬ 
tute fills (lie bill with satisfaction, though 
lacking somewhat in high color, though 
it. shows up fairly well in this respect, 
without, remodeling. And if we can effect 
a saving of 20c per lb., as at present, by 
its use, we do not feel obligated to dis¬ 
card it and listen to other people’s advice 
in order to help out the butter consump¬ 
tion. and would get no thanks for it if 
we did. Some people Inconsiderately argue 
that oleo and all its co-relative products 
should be prohibited from the markets; 
but its manufacture and sale are legiti¬ 
mate, if honestly conducted, and were 
they eliminated entirely no doubt butter 
would soar lo upwards of $1 per lb. 
)\ bile Tine U. X.-Y. in an editorial sets 
down dairymen who use oleo as narrow 
and selfish, I apprehend that those of this 
class who abstain from it would forego 
their conscientious scruples in regard to 
selfishness and grab up the uttermost far¬ 
thing obtainable on butter prices, even 
thougli they soared to the skies, and one- 
half the population were obliged to go 
without altogether through lack of means 
to buy. Moreover. I know all competition 
hurts, but we all get it in some form, 
and may as well take it philosophically 
and without grumbling. Anyhow, in the 
ordinary lines of trade one person’s losses 
work for another's gain. And regarding 
(his assumption that for a dairyman to 
use oleo looks ‘‘narrow and selfish,” we 
conceive the argument has a pretty flimsy 
foundation to support it, if it has any at 
all. Whim reduced to its final analysis it 
only fastens a still worse stigma on the 
group who oppose it. who by their own 
admission confess their sole object is to 
boost up prices and aggrandize themselves 
at the expense of those who are endeav¬ 
oring to economize in the bill of fare. 
If Ibis is not selfishness, pure and unadul¬ 
terated. on their part, I shall be pleased 
to have some competent authority define 
it. o. w. 
Oak Hill. X. Y. 
K. X.-Y.—We print this ill order (h it 
our readers may have the exact point of 
view of those who use oleo. II is quite 
M 
easy to see where such ail argument will 
lead to. 
The Use of Oleo by Farmers 
I The following reports are made by 
farm women in Franklin County, Mass., 
in response to letters cut out by the 
Comity Agent.J 
“It is not generally used. There is 
more call for dairy butter. Last Winter 
there were about 10 families out. of 1.50 
who used oleo. It is even, smaller this 
year." 
“About 5 per cent, of the farm women 
i>f my acquaintance have used it. but n'bt 
to any extent. They bought if because 
poor butter costs so much more than 
oleo. When they can buy fjood butter 
they w ill pay the price.” 
“I find that nearly every farm woman 
makes at. least, what butter the family 
use. Our groeeryman thinks he sells 
about one-third as much oleo as butter, 
and as he takes orders at nearly all the 
farms far and near, I think be would 
know.” 
“1 know of none among my farm 
women acquaintances who use it in place 
of butter except occasionally as a matter 
of curiosity.” 
‘T have interviewed 20 families in the 
town, and found that six out of the 20 
used oleo altogether; one used it part of 
the time, just as it happened, and the 
rest used butter.” 
“To my knowledge t here is no one 
here who uses oleo. I have just talked 
with our one and only storekeeper, and 
lie does not carry it. so it is safe to say 
that approximately the number of women 
who use it here is zero.” 
‘‘There is only one family here that 
uses oleo. out nf 15 or Itj iif my acquaint¬ 
ances.” 
“I spoke t" our local storekeeper and 
he tells me that he sells one pound of 
oleo to every two pounds! of butter. I 
think it would be safe to say that about 
25 per cent of the farm women use oleo 
to some extent.” 
Each one "f these replies is from a 
different town and represent various con¬ 
ditions from the hill towns, to the larger 
towns of the valley. I think these were 
sufficient, to show that the use of oleo in 
our back towns, where the farmers keep 
cows and make cream, is very limited 
indeed, while in our larger centers, where 
the farmers mostly send milk and pur¬ 
chase in rhe larger markets, there is 
some use of oleo by the farmers’ families, 
but this is not very extensive, and prac¬ 
tically all p d'er to use good butter when 
they can get it. 
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Inti. Climax Dairy Feed 
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District 
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N. York 
and Pa. 
District 
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New 
England 
District 
$39.00 . 
lutl. Special Dairy Feed 
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$39.50 
$42.00 
$42.60 
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A Complete Balanced Ra¬ 
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$48.50 
$51.00 
$51.60 
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. 
$52.00 
$54.50 
$55.00 
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