the proprietors, much as a thrashing machine is drawn in this country.

A great deal of wine is distilled in the south of France and some in the Charente, not for the purpose of making brandy, but for making a grape spirit, which is sent north for the purpose of fortifying champagne.

As ascertained from the inspection, it is possible at the present time for American merchants to get true brandy-that is, the whole distillate from the wine-if purchased directly from the warehouses under a Government certificate. When these brandies are sold and pass thru various hands there is no assurance that they are not mixt, stretched, and adulterated before reaching our markets.

EXECUTION OF THE IMPORTED FOOD LAW.

FRENCH CANNED VEGETABLES.

The methods of preparing canned vegetables for export to the United States were carefully studied, with special reference to the use of sulfate of copper for greening peas, beans, etc. Factories were inspected and methods of manipulation observed. Since the inauguration of the food inspection in the United States greater care has been exercised respecting the amount of copper sulfate used. The quantities employed are now carefully weighed, and the water in which it is dissolved is measured in order to avoid the excessive use of this objectionable material, which heretofore has been so commonly practised. A peculiar feature of the use of sulfate of copper is that it is not used to any extent in the food products in the countries where the greened vegetables are made. These greened products are reserved almost exclusively for export to England and the United States, where, it is claimed, the consumers prefer this artificial greening. If this be true, it is certainly desirable that the public should be educated to prefer, as they do in other countries, the natural colors of the food products.

At a conference held at the consulate in Bordeaux with some of the representative vegetable and sardine merchants the regulations of the Department of Agriculture in regard to the labeling of food products were fully discust. It was represented by the merchants present that in the case of tins already printed and made up, which owing to a short crop were still held in stock, some concessions should be made, and it was suggested that affidavit be made before the consul as to the number of such cans on hand and that a proper paster, guaranteed not to come off when subjected to the usual vicissitudes of

transit, be affixt. It was upon the basis of these representations that the following food-inspection decision was issued in the following autumn:

(F. I. D. 30.)

THE USE OF PACKAGES MADE OF TIN PLATE, ON WHICH LABELS HAVE BEEN PRINTED FOR PRESERVED VEGETABLES, ETC., ORDERED AND DELIVERED TO MANUFACTURERS PRIOR TO SEPTEMBER 1, 1905.

From the investigations lately made by the Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry, it appears that in a few instances European manufacturers of preserved vegetables, intended for export to the United States, had provided a large number of packages made of tin, on which the labels had been printed previous to the manufacture of the tin cans. The printed matter can not be erased from the cans, nor can it be conveniently covered without destroying the artistic appearance of the packages. These tin cans had been ordered and delivered to the manufacturers before the publication of F. I. D. 26, requiring the presence of preservatives, coloring matters, etc., to be indicated upon the original label and not attached by means of pasters subsequent to September 1, 1905. In many cases considerable expense has been incurred by the manufacturers in the purchase of these tin cans with the labels printed thereon.

Inasmuch as these packages were purchased in good faith and were not intended to disregard the regulations of the law relating to imported food products, permission will be given to use them in packing preserved vegetables for the season of 1906 on the following conditions:

1. That the tin cans in the possession of manufacturers shall have been ordered and delivered previous to September 1, 1905.

2. That the manufacturer shall make a statement before the consul in each case of the number of such packages which he had on hand at the date mentioned.

3. That the manufacturer shall attach a special paster, in a conspicuous place on the label, in such a way as to make it practically irremovable, indicating the presence of the preservative, coloring matter, etc., which may have been used in the preparation of the contents of the package, by the use of type not smaller than long primer capitals, as shown in F. I. D. 6, and submit samples thereof to this Department prior to shipment.

4. That these packages already on hand may be used for the crop of 1906, but not for a longer period.

5. That the importation of these packages into the United States under the regulations above mentioned shall not continue longer than May 1, 1907. Approved.

JAMES WILSON,

Secretary of Agriculture.

WASHINGTON, D. C., September 29, 1905.

Factories preparing mushrooms for export to the United States were also inspected and the methods of manipulation, sorting, cleaning, bleaching, and preserving the mushrooms observed. The principal charge brought against the mushrooms imported has been that of misbranding in cases where pieces and stems not suitable for high grades were canned separately and sent to this country under the name of " Galipedes " or " Hotel mushrooms."

One large factory at Bordeaux was visited which is devoted entirely to canning mushrooms for the American trade. The mushrooms are grown in the quarries which extend for many miles in all directions near Bordeaux, forming caves made by removing the stone for building purposes. These fungi are grown in horse manure, which is carried into the caves usually on the backs of the workmen, put up in beds, and seeded with the proper spores. A mushroom bed will remain in bearing form about three months, when the residue of the manure must be carried out of the cave, and even the spot of ground on which it was is not fit to use again for at least a year. The process of growing is therefore very expensive. The mushrooms are brought into the market in baskets and are worth in the state in which they are plucked about 15 cents a pound. They are all separated by hand, being picked over six or seven times. All superfluous parts are first removed and the mushrooms are dropt into a large tub of water, where they float on the surface. Here they are cleaned with a brush, one at a time, and dark and decayed spots that can not be removed by a brush are cut away. After this process they go to the trimmer, where the extra parts of the stems and the broken and imperfect pieces of the mushrooms are separated, collected, and canned under the name of "Hotel mushrooms." The fungi are carefully sorted at this point into four or five grades according to size. They next go to the sulfur chamber, where they are bleached. They are then trimmed and sterilized in the usual manner. It requires from six to eight women or girls and from three to four men to take care of from 500 to 1,000 pounds of mushrooms per day.

FRENCH SARDINES.

The French sardine factories are mostly on the Bay of Biscay, the majority of them being located south of Brest and between that point and La Rochelle. Nantes is the center of the industry. At the conference held at Bordeaux the character of the oil used in packing was the chief point under discussion.

The question of the making of the oil used in the packing was discust. There is a disposition on the part of the packers to insist on the theory that the phrase "packed in oil" does not mean in France "packed in olive oil." It was claimed by some that a previous heating of the fish in peanut oil improves both flavor and color, and when subsequently packed in olive oil it was held to be unfair to require the notification on the label of the presence of peanut oil. Attention was called also to the fact that sardines of other countries were often packed under the name of French labels, as it was the general impression that the French pack was better than any other. Attention was called to the information which had been received that Spanish