This promotes a uniform distribution of the salt it. the form of brine throughout the mass of butter. The existence in butter of undissolved particles of salt is highly prejudicial to its taste and character. The quantity of salt used in butter is determined by the taste of the consumer. The more salt the butter contains the less value it is as butter and hence the quantity should be limited to the smallest possible amount demanded by the consumer's taste. Often butters are found in commerce which are so full of salt as to be wholly unpalatable and there is a tendency on the part of the greedy manufacturer to add excessive quantities of salt because it is very much cheaper than the

butter itself and thus he hopes to add to the profit of the industry. On the contrary this practice usually results in loss, since such highly salted butter naturally brings the lowest price. The amount of salt which is used in butter should not exceed two percent.

It is a common supposition that salt in butter is a preservative. This is true when used in large quantities, that is, in quantities which render the butter somewhat unpalatable. The very small quantity of salt used purely for condimental purposes cannot be regarded as aiding in any material way the preservation of the product.

Coloring Butter.-Unfortunately the practice of artificially coloring butter is very prevalent in the United States. Practically all the butter found upon the market, even in the spring and summer, is more or less artificially colored, often with coal tar (anilin) dyes which, to say the least harm of them possible, are open to suspicion in respect of wholesomeness. The practice of coloring butter produced in winter may be regarded as universal, though none the less reprehensible on that account. The object of coloring butter is, undoubtedly, to make it appear in the eyes of the consumer better than it really is, and to this extent can only be regarded as an attempt to deceive. If cows are properly fed during the winter months with wholesome, nutritious food to which a small proportion of roots such as carrots or ruta bagas are added or with yellow maize and clover hay, even in winter time the butter produced will have an attractive light amber tint which appeals strongly to the æsthetic sense of the consumer. The natural tint of butter is as much more attractive than the artificial as any natural color is superior to the artificial. There is the same difference between the natural tint of butter and the artificial as there is between the natural rose of the cheek and its painted substitute. It is claimed, and perhaps justly, that the use of certain vegetable colors, such as annotto, does not introduce any unwholesome substance into the product. Admitting this, we must next ask whether it deceives the consumer. If so, it is difficult to understand upon what ethical principal any plea for the artificial coloring of butter can rest. If it is admitted that there is no valid reason why butter should be colored other than the artificial coloring of foods in general, which is a practice so reprehensible that it is almost universally denounced, its practice cannot be easily defended. The dairymen of our country are honest and honorable and evidently do not clearly see the false position in which the practice of coloring butter puts them. When the dairymen of our country understand that the naturally colored products will bring the highest price on the market and appeal more strongly to the confidence of the consumer it is believed the artificial coloring in butter will be relegated to the scrap pile of useless processes. It cannot be claimed in any sense that coloring of butter artificially ever adds anything to its value as a nutritive substance.

One of the claims for justifying the coloring of butter is that it distinguishes it from oleomargarine. This, however, is not the case since, under the law, oleomargarine may be colored upon the payment of a tax of ten cents per pound. The consumer has at his disposition a complete protection against fraud in the use of oleomargarine by the operation of state and federal laws, irrespective of the tint of the product. Oleomargarine and butter are distinguished from each other by their natural colors and also by their chemical and physical properties and, therefore, there can be no justification for the coloring of butter on the plea that it distinguishes it from oleomargarine.

Thus, from every point of view it is evident that the artificial coloring of butter is undesirable. It interferes with the right of the consumer, who should know the exact character of the product he buys, and it stands in the way of the prosperity of the manufacturer by keeping upon the market a cheaper product which tends to decrease the price even of that of better quality.

Standard Butter.-According to the standard established by Congress butter must contain more than 16 percent water and not less than 82.5 butter fat.

Renovated Butter.—The law of Congress which controls the manufacture of renovated butter is executed jointly by the Treasury and Agricultural Departments. The quantity of renovated butter produced during the year ending June 30, 1905, was 60,290,421 pounds.

Adulterated Butter.-The quantity of adulterated butter which was produced under the authority of the Act regulating the manufacture of oleomargarine and butter and on which is laid a tax of 10 cents per pound during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1905, was 3,671 pounds. These data show that the tax of 10 cents per pound laid upon adulterated butter has practically destroyed the manufacture of that article. Normal butter has from 12 to 14 percent of water. It is sometimes rechurned with water to

raise the water content to 16 percent. Such a practice results in adulteration whether the content of water exceeds 16 percent or not.

Influence of Food upon Butter.-The character of butter is very easily affected by the nature of the food consumed by the cow. Butter has the faculty of absorbing very readily odors of all kinds. Foods, therefore, which have characteristic odors impart them to the butter. A most striking instance of this is in the eating of wild garlic. In this case both the milk and the butter are affected to such a degree as to be in many cases unpalatable. Hence foods or substances in foods which are aromatic or odoriferous are likely to impart their peculiar odor to the milk, cream, and butter. Of all the constituents. of milk the fat appears to have the highest faculty of absorbing these objectionable odors. Therefore, the feeding of distillery slops is also apt to impart an unpleasant odor to milk and butter, whereas if these slops be dried and their volatile aromatic principle expelled little discomfort is experienced in their use. The physical characteristics of butter are also changed in a marked degree by the character of the food. Butter fat, as has already been indicated, is distinguished from other animal fats by its content of soluble and volatile acids of which butyric is the chief. There are certain kinds of foods which decrease or tend to decrease the content of butyric acid in butter.

Influence on Melting Point.-The character of the food also has a marked influence upon the melting point of butter. The author showed many years ago that the use of cottonseed meal as food for cows tends to raise the melting point of butter. This was regarded as an index of some value for the southern

portion of the country, where a high temperature obtains over a period of six or seven months of the year. If the melting point of butter, which when normal is about 33 degrees C. (91° F.), could be increased to 35 or 36 degrees C. (95° F.), it would be of immense advantage in these warm climates and, in fact, in all parts of the country during the months of July, August, and September. There is no apparent tendency to increase the melting point of butter by feeding other oil cakes.

Transmission of Other Principles in the Food to the Butter.- Experience has shown that when cows are fed cottonseed meal or its products the quality of cottonseed oil which responds to the color test known as the Halphen test, namely, the production of a red color with carbon disulfid and amyl alcohol, is transmitted also to the butter. In some cases this reaction is extremely faint while in others it is displayed with an intensity which is claimed by some to be equal to that of the admixture of 5 percent of cottonseed oil with the butter. The use of cottonseed meal, on the contrary, does not seem to notably affect either the content of volatile acid in the butter nor its refractometer reading. (Experimental Station Record, Volume 25, Page 716.)

OLEOMARGARINE.

Oleomargarine is the name applied to any fatty substance which is prepared to be used in the same manner as butter. Oleomargarine is defined by Act of Congress as follows:

An Act defining butter, also imposing a tax upon and regulating the manufacture, sale, importation, and exportation of oleomargarine. (Approved August 2, 1886.)

"That for the purposes of this act certain manufactured substances, certain extracts, and certain mixtures and compounds, including such mixtures and compounds with butter, shall be known and designated as "oleomargarine," namely: All substances heretofore known as oleomargarine, oleo, oleomargarine oil, butterine, lardine, suine, and neutral; all mixtures and compounds of oleomargarine, oleo, oleomargarine oil, butterine, lardine, suine, and neutral; all lard extracts and tallow extracts; and all mixtures and compounds of tallow, beef fat, suet, lard, lard oil, vegetable oil, annotto, and other coloring matter, intestinal fat, and offal fat made in imitation or semblance of butter, or, when so made, calculated or intended to be sold as butter or for butter.”

The manufacture of oleomargarine can only take place in the United States. under the supervision of officials of the Internal Revenue. All oleomargarine which is artificially colored a yellow or yellowish tint in semblance of natural butter pays an internal revenue tax of 10 cents per pound. Oleomargarine uncolored pays a revenue tax of one-fourth cent per pound. Oleomargarine

when made under proper sanitary conditions from sanitary raw materials is a wholesome and nutritious article of diet and usually can be sold at a smaller price than butter. It is especially a food product which commends itself to those who are under the necessity of practising strict economy in the cost of food in the family. The principal objection, and in fact the only valid objection, to its use is found in the frauds which have been committed in its manufacture and sale. There has been a constant disposition on the part of dishonest manufacturers and dealers, since the time when oleomargarine became a commercial commodity, to sell it as butter. Although the penalties of national and state laws are very severe in this respect the practice is continued. The opportunity for gain is so great that the cupidity of the manufacturer overcomes his fear of punishment and disgrace. With a more rigid national and state inspection, it is reasonable to hope that this fraudulent use of oleomargarine can be avoided and the pure, unadulterated article under its own name be supplied to those who prefer it either on account of its properties or its price.

Materials Used in the Manufacture of Oleomargarine.-Neutral Lard. One of the principal basic components of oleomargarine is neutral lard or lard stearin, the properties of which have already been described. Beef fat stearin is another basic ingredient of oleomargarine and is the stearin derived from tallow or tallow itself. Beef fat has a higher melting point than lard and beef fat stearin a still higher melting point than the tallow. Hence it forms an ideal ingredient with which to mix the oily components which enter so largely into the manufacture of oleomargarine. The beef fat or beef fat stearin is easily distinguished by means of the microscope. It forms beautiful radiated fan-like crystals, the characteristic appearance of which is shown in Fig. 9, page 67.

Cottonseed Oil and Cottonseed Oil Stearin.-These are also important ingredients of oleomargarine affording the oily or more liquid constituents which, when mixed with the lard and stearin above mentioned, form a compound the melting point of which is slightly above that of butter and sufficient. to maintain it in an unmelted state even in warm weather. The quantities in which these different ingredients are used vary greatly in different manufacturing establishments and depend largely upon the location where the oleomargarine is to be used. When manufactured for tropical or subtropical regions larger quantities of stearin are employed than when used in temperate zones or for winter consumption, in which case larger quantities of cottonseed oil and cottonseed oil stearin are employed with the mixture. After the fats are mixed it is usually the practice to churn them with milk in order to give a flavor of butter to the product. In some cases the yolk of eggs is mixed with oleomargarine, as it is claimed that they impart thereto a firmer and more homogeneous structure which renders the mass better, especially for