MARGARINE AND BUTTER.

Western Star, 14 February 1922, Page 4

MARGARINE AND BUTTER.

' Mi:;'n : 'j "Dairyman says: The cm.'.■!:.■!-;- !,'■■„• ci thn South oca. Jjs-

!in:r.- i s seriously threatening the entire dairy industry: Last year 7.5C0,000ib of vitaniine-filled butterfat were replaced in tliic-s country alone l;y nutriment-lacing cocoanut oil. It is difficult to estimate how much pork fat was replaced by thirs same '-■!!•■;!j) substitute. According to the I'liiicd- Scales Bureau of Markets, during the year 1919 over 61,000,0001 b -!! 1,995,221 in fact—of evaporated '-kiiii-niilk were modified wilh thus, important adulterant. Of this amount, over 39,(;00,0C0ib. -wore used in Wisconsin and 23,000,0001 b in the .State of AYashington.

Y\"hai- does it mean to the diairy farmer that in 1917 only 79,223,3981 b. of cocoanut oil were, brought into tho United. States, while just two years later the amount imported wae 324.270,3661 b. The value* of this oil when it arrived was only 10.3 cents a lb. It is even cheaper this year. Can the dairy •fanner, milking! his cows twice a day, feeding expensive' protein-carrying feeds, produce butterfat in comparison with thics. Can' the swine-raiser throw out corn produced on high-priced land and furnish aifaKa or clever to' a bunch of .pigfi

:-.;id produce I'at in competition with the cuaooa ir.it cow r 1

Wh.le in 1919 tiie (ii,ooo,ooolb of

skhu-miik used in the manufature of compound milk hurt the farmer economically and took from the farm justthat much nourishing feed that should have y'lU" to the calves and pi::,-, its effect in the cities was far more morion-. "For there it meant J kou*ancls of under-nourished ckilcV ren. "Whole milk contains milk fat of butter-fat. Ilemove this vitaminecontaining element front, the casein liquid portion of the milk and .substitute a fat- which contains no vitamir.os and feed it to growing, children, audi there follows all the evils of improper 'feeding. These factors make the dairy farmerrs light for protection against the: "cocoanut cow" of more than class, importance.' The dairyman's .problem is twofold: he must educate the consuming public to the proper appreciation of the food value hr "butter-fate warn it- of the clanger of substitutes; he must obtain legislative protection.

The first .part of the probleiim must be clone in face of the natural tendency to buy the cheapest food available,' for filled milk is cheaper than condensed whole milk. Place two kindr, of milk on the grocer's _ shelf and the uniformed consumer will buy the cheaper. It k to the editorial columns and the advertising sections of the press that the dairyman ■ must turn to find his educational medium.

Through the American Farm Bureau Fedcratien imiueh pressure ha.s been brought to obtain .proper legislative protection. Two Bills are now before Congress the Forciney Bill and tho Bill. Tho. first proposes a taxin<v'~and liceiieinu: .programme ftuch as has successfully 'controlled the manufacture of filled cheese, while tho second forbids the- inter-State transportation of the product. In the (Slates too, the dairymen are buGj* trough their local organisations. Thro/ States—Ohio, Wisconsin, _ and MarvTancV-now have laws prohibiting the " sale and manufacture of filled milk. -