Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-12-23
Sour On Our Sweets.

When the census tables come out
it is TO be hoped they will show how
many manufactures of glucose there
are in this country, and how much
they manufacture, and how much is
sold to consumers and how much 10
manufacturers of other sweets, and
who they are. Thus we may have
some data to make calculation as to
how much We are cheated in the pur-
chase and use of sweets.
But what difference does it make if
We are cheated !? If we 60 to store
at one time and purchase a gallon of
pure syrup made from sugar cane,
paying therefor 60 cents, and 60 an.
other time and purchase gallon that
looks just as good, is as dense and as
heavy and more transparent and to
your taste and judgment is better
article than the other, should you not
be entirely satisfied with your trade
If you get it for 60 cents, although its
original cost was only half that of
the sugar cane syrup? Such tran.
sactions are very common, and few
make any inquiry or take the matter
at all into consideration. We all
take things as we find them and we
like and applaud those who make
money out of u,-the more they
make and the less their labor the
better we like them. If we only get
the sweets of life no matter if they
are adulterated. What comes sweet
ly to US will keep us sweet, though
persistent use of it will wear down
the constitution and reduce us to
rickety poverty.
But, the objeotsof this article was
to say something of the sugars and
syrups in use. It is well known that
these are now largely adulterated
with glucose. And what is glucose
1t is grape sugar. "Grape sugar."
so called, is made from corn. The
corn of our farmers, at rs cents per
bushel, goes into the glucose manu-.
factories and returns to the farmers
tables at $500 per bushel. They
buy "corn juice" when they think
they are buying saccharine. Glucose
when sold as pure sweet is a swim.
die to the amount of full half of its
price. Glucose sugar is not, for
household use, worth half as much
as cane sugar, nor does it originally
cost half as much. A farmer some
time ago gave us problem like this:
Put ten pounds of cane sugar, that
has ten degrees strength with ten
pounds Of corn sugar that has FIVE
degrees strength, would the mixture
be equal to twenty pounds of fifteen
degrees strangth? Automatically,
yes. But, you have ten pounds of
fruit that it takes ten pounds of ten
degree sugar to preserve. Your fruit
will keep indefinitely, but the whole
mixture of ter pounds of the cane
with ten pounds of the corn sugar,
the other conditions being the same.
would not preserve your ten pounds
of fruit. As well suppose that after
you have your fruit preserved by the
simpler process, you could then
safely add TO it mixture of FIVE
pounds OF the cane sugar and FIVE
pounds of water. Any housekeeper
knows that fermentation would re-
snlt. Hence e.degree sugar even
at half the price OF ten degree sugar,
is Improbable TO the consumer.
Glucose or care sugars adulterated
with glucose are swindles in another
way. ln some OF the processes of
manufacture sulphuric acid and lime
are used in them and become con-
stituent parts. These are poisonous,
aud their constant use is injurious to
health.
1t is fact that the people are
grossly imposed upon in the matter
of syrups and sugars, aud none of US,
not even our merchants, can know it.
They can know it, but who will I'M
dertake the investigation ? 1t is plain
thstlegIslation should step in between
the "sweet" rogues and the people.
The manufacturers OF glucose should
be put under such restrictions snd
penalties as to render their imposi.