Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-27

10 eleven aud one half cents in August, 1875.
How much Of this loss Of value is owing 10
the discredit which has come upon its char
acter, some reasons for which we have here
set forth, il is difficult to estimate, but that
some Of it is thus owing we cannot doubt.
Now we beg leave to submit that the
Times is entirely wong in the reasons il
gives for the small consumption Of butter by
Americans
OF the economical value of cheese as an
article of food when compared with meat or
bread there is no doubt. The estimate made
by the Times does not begin to state the rela-
tive value of cheese compared to lean beef.
This matter has not until within very few
years been brought to the notice Of the Peo-
pie, and perhaps is not now generally UNDER
stood. But that cheese is not commonly
used because of its poor quality or because
Of the filthy habits of those who care for the
COWS and make the cheese, is simply libel
on the dairymen aud factorymen Of the
country. That there are dairymen who are
anything but tidy in the care Of cows whose
milk is used for cheese, aud that cheese of
poor quality is put upon the market, cannot
be denied, but that the habits of butter dairy
men as class are any better or that the aver
age quality of butter ia the market is any
better than that of cheese, is not a fact.
But this does not prevent or interfere with
an enormous consumption of butter by peo-
pie of all classes in this country. 1t is
quite within the truth to assert that since
the enormous increase in the production OF
cheese resulting from the introduction Of the
factory system, there has been marked i'm
provement in the matter of cleanliness in the
production Of pilk and the manufacture of
cheese land butter also); and the cheese put
upon the market is more uniform and OF a
higher order in quality, favor aud texture,
and these improvements are in large meas
ure due to the efforts of the gentlemen who are
now reviled for endorsing the oleomargarne
fraud" thing they have not done.
There are, in point Of fact, two reasons
why our people do not use more cheese.
The first is a mistaken notion, arising from
their ignorance of how to use it, that it is not
an economical article of food They do not
use cheese because it is no saving OF other
food, as they believe. Just as much other
food is consumed by family when they use
cheese as when they do not We have seen
many people in good circumstances, who
make fine article of cheese, and use scarcely
any, for the above reason, as they do not
hesitate to admit. Their cheese commands
the highest price, often fancy prices and is
material addition to the meagre revenue of
the farm. II the "poorer classes" as well as
others, would buy good sound article of
cheese and let it take the place. to some ex-
tent, Of the beef steak they buy at 100 per
cent advance on the price the farmer gets for
it, they would consult true economy
The other reason why people do not use
cheese more generally is from force Of habit
They have always got along well enough
without cheese as their fathers did before
them, and they are likely to continue in tho
same way to the end. 1t does not even oc-
cur to them that it would be good thing to
use cheese.
1t may be that in some localities the de.
mand for cheese is so slight that the grocers
do not feel called upon to buy good article
But that they could and would supply good
cheese if their customers called for it, is too
evident to require any proof.
The idea that dairymen themselves do mol
use cheese, because of its poor quality and
their filthy habits in treating the cows ant
handling milk is too preposterous. Do no,
these same dairymen use butter prodigiously
made from milk handled in the same way
and manufactured with no more skill than
cheese
| AuSu ehS iuiol"1t'Ou tha' pOupiV w hO
use cheese and the price is rapidly declining
because little oleomargarine cheese is
made, is something for which dairymen viii
be grateful. Perhaps the decline in tn
price of wool aud other merchandise aud tn
general prostration of business is all due t,
this oleomargarine fraud.
Any information which will help consum
ers to detect the adulteraton Of butter an
cheese as we'll as almost every other article
of food with dceterious and worthless sub
stances, and the exposure Of the parties VIII
resort to this nefarious system for maxim
money, will be gratefully received by tn,
people, and the individuals or the journal
aiding in this good work will deserve and re
ceive hearty approval. But all this public
discussion and wholesale denunciaton of tn
use of eleomargarne aud the possible adul
teration of that article is, in the opinion c
many, calculated to do more harm to th
market at home and abroad than the simpl
use of oleomargarine which the America
Grocer says can be detected in cheese.
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