cider vinegar solids, it shall be deemed adulterated within the meaning of this act. All manufacturers of vinegar in the state of Wisconsin, and all persons who reduce or re-barrel vinegar in this state, and all persons who handle vinegar in lots of one barrel or more, are hereby required to stencil or mark in black figures at least one inch in length on the head of each barrel of vinegar bought or sold by them, the standard strength of the vinegar contained in the package or barrel, which shall be denoted by the per centum of acetic acid. And any neglect so to mark or stencil each package or barrel, or any false markings of packages or barrels, shall be deemed a misdemeanor.

SECTION 5. Whoever violates any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars and costs.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and publication.

Section 1 provides that any person who makes cider vinegar shall sell it as such.

Section 2 provides that no injurious ingredients shall be used in the manufacture of vinegar.

Section 3 provides that no person or his agent, shall sell adulterated or spirit vinegar as cider vinegar.

Section 4 provides that all vinegar shall test not less than 4 per cent. of acetic acid, and that cider vinegar shall contain not less than two per cent. of solids, and that manufacturers and reducers, and persons who handle vinegar, shall brand upon the head of barrel, in letters not less than one inch, the per centum of acetic acid, as follows:

ACETIC ACID 4 PER CENTUM.

Chapter 248, Laws of 1879, provides that no label, mark or device shall be upon any package or cask, which shall mislead or deceive as to the true contents.

The law relating to the branding of casks will be enforced on and after June 1st, 1891.

THIS ACT REPEALS CHAPTER 185, LAWS OF 1887.

SECTION 1. No person shall sell, exchange, expose or offer for sale or exchange, or ship or consign, or have in his possession with intent to sell, ship or consign any substance purporting, appearing, or represented to be butter or cheese, or having the semblance of either butter or cheese, which substance is not made wholly and directly from pure milk or cream, salt and harmless coloring matter, unless it be done under its true name, and each vessel, package, roll or parcel of such substance has distinctly and durably painted, stamped, stenciled or marked thereon the true name of such substance in ordinary bold-faced capital letters, not less than five line pica in size, or sell or dispose of in any manner to another, any such substance in quantities less than the original package, without delivering with each amount sold or disposed of, a label, on which is plainly and legibly printed in ordinary bold faced capital letter not less than five line pica in size, the true name of such substance.

SECTION 2. No person or persons shall manufacture out of any oleaginous substance or substances, or any compound of the same other than that produced wholly, directly and at the time of manufacture from unadulterated milk or cream, salt and harmless coloring matter, any article n imitation of or designed to be sold, shipped or consigned as butter or cheese. Nothing in this section shall prevent the use of pure skimmed milk in the manufacture of cheese; but cheese made wholly or in part from skimmed milk should be plainly labeled, “skimmed."

(This section repeals chapter 424, laws of 1889.)

SECTION 3. No person or persons shall manufacture, mix, compound with or add to natural or pure milk, cream, butter or cheese, any animal fats, animal, mineral or vegetable oils, or extreneous butter fat or oil, nor shall any person or persons manufacture any oleaginous or other substance not produced wholly and at the time from pure milk or cream, salt and harmless coloring matter, or have the same in his possession with intent to offer or expose the same for sale or exchange, or sell, consign, ship, or in any manner dispose of the same as and for butter or cheese, nor shall any substance or compound so made be sold or disposed of to any one as and for butter or cheese.

SECTION 4. No person or persons shall sell, exchange, expose or offer for sale or exchange, dispose of, ship or consign or have in his possession anv

substance or article made in imitation or resemblance of any dairy product which is falsely branded, stenciled, labeled or marked.

SECTION 5. Every person in this state who shall deal in, keep for sale, expose or offer for sale or exchange, any substance other than butter or cheese, made wholly and directly from pure milk or cream, salt and harmless coloring matter, which appears to be, resembles or is made in imitation of, butter or cheese, shall keep a card, not less in size than ten by fourteen inches, posted in a conspicuous and visible place, where the same may be easily seen and read, in the store room, stand, booth, wagon or place where such substance is so kept or exposed for sale, on which card shall be printed on a white ground, in bold, black Roman letters, not less in size than twelve line pica, the words," oleomargerine," "butterine," or "imitation cheese" (as the case may be) "sold here," and said card shall not contain any other words than the ones above prescribed; and no person shall sell any oleomargarine, butterine, imitation cheese or other imitation dairy product, at retail or in any quantity less than the original package, tub or firkin, unless he shall first inform the purchaser that the substance is not butter or cheese, but an imitation of the same.

SECTION 6. Every proprietor, keeper or manager, or person in charge of any hotel, boarding house, restaurant, eating house, lunch counter, or lunch room, who therein sells, uses or disposes of any substance which appears to be, resembles, or is made in imitation of butter or cheese, under whatsoever name, and which substance is not wholly and directly made from pure milk or cream, salt and harmless coloring matter, shall display and keep a card posted in a conspicuous place, where the same may be easily seen and read, in the dining room, eating room, lunch room, restaurant and place where such substance is sold, used or disposed of, which card shall be white, and in size not less than ten by fourteen inches, upon which shall be printed in plain, black, Roman letters, not less in size than twelve line pica, the words "oleomargarine used here," butterine used here," or "imitation cheese used here," (as the case may be) and said card shall not contain any other words than the ones above prescribed, and such proprietor, keeper, manager or person in charge shall not sell, furnish or dispose of substance as and for "butter or cheese" made from pure milk or cream, salt and harmless coloring matter, when butter or cheese is asked for.

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SECTION 7. No butter or cheese not made wholly and directly from pure milk or cream, salt and harmless coloring matter shall be used in any of the charitable or penal institutions of the state.

SECTION 8. Any person or persons violating any of the provisions or sections of this act, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than twenty-five nor more than fifty dollars for the first offense, or for each subsequent offense not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail not less than ten nor more than ninety days or both.

SECTION 9. One-half of all the fines collected under the provisions of this act shall be paid to the person or persons furnishing information upo which conviction is procured.

SECTION 10. All acts or parts of acts controvening the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its

SECTION 11. passage and publication.

I find that the sentiment of the general public and especially of the farming community, is becoming more interested in this commission. For a time, the idea was prevalent among th farmers that the principal work of the Dairy and Food Com mission was to perform a sort of detective duty and to be always on the alert to catch them in some fraud.

Beyond question, it is the duty of this department to prevent fraud or adulteration in any dairy or food product but those who are innocent of any deception need not be in the least fear of any sort of irksome surveillance.

It is now generally recognized that the only way to market milk, and especially where it is sold to cheese factories or creameries, is to sell it by the ratio of butter-fat that it contains.

Selling milk, regardless of quality, for the purpose of making cheese or butter, is just as absurd as selling hogs by the dozen, the same as eggs. The ingredient that determines the value of the milk is the butter-fat and it is not only unbusiness like but unjust and unlawful that a man who skims and waters his milk should receive the same price for an article that contains but two and one-half per cent. as the man who delivers a clean, unadulterated article containing four or five per cent. of butter-fat.

If no tests are made of the milk received at a cheese factory or a creamery, the only gauge the manager has to follow is the number of pounds of cheese or butter that all the milk delivered makes and if he pays the different patrons on this basis, the man who delivers good milk is paid no more than the man who previously removes a portion of the cream and converts it to his own use or makes it into butter and sells it on the market.

The use of the Babcock test in the factory will remove this objection, and if payment is made upon the actual results of the test, each man is paid for exactly what he delivers and, moreover, the farmer who persistently waters or skims his milk is soon detected and is laid liable to the law for the deception that he endeavors to practice.

The standard adopted by the State, viz., three per cent. of butter-fat is none too high and it has been the experience of the members of this commission that the standard might be raised to three and one-half per cent. and do no injustice to the large majority of the patrons of our creameries and cheese factories.

There is no doubt but that deception has been and is largely practiced but where this commission has taken samples or where the proprietor has provided himself with a reliable test to determine the butter-fat, this practice is being gradually abandoned and the result is, that instead of being a detriment to the milk producer, the work of this commission is to his direct benefit.

This commissioner has had occasion to visit a large number of factories during his term of office, and at some of them, has met with considerable opposition on the part of patrons, but in every instance, when the real and fundamental object of the work has been explained to them, he has not only allayed any feeling of enmity but has received the cordial thanks and warm support of all. The farmers and dairymen are not slow to realize that each one of them who produces rich milk is being robbed by the dishonest patron of the factory as effectually and as surely as though he were "held up" at the point of a revolver and told to stand and deliver.

The large number of complaints received from milk dealers and factories and the number of samples of cheese and vinegar received for analysis have taken up much of the time of the members of this commission for their proper attention, but a constantly growing number of samples of food-stuffs have been procured and work upon them is being pushed as rapidly as the duties of the chemist will permit.

It is an open secret that almost every granulated sugar on