The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-09-15
MORE authorizations.
The Process by Which Artificial Butter Is
Made, and the Extent of Its Man
ufacture.

Beautiful butter" said the reporter yester-
day, spreading a cracker while waiting for the
oyster stew.
Eyes, beautiful" said the scientific gentleman
seated opposite, as he drew his knife through
the golden onguent, "buJ not strictly butter
An, here's the stew. Observe me put this lump
into the seething liquid. You see how slowly it
melts and mingles with the stew. This is harder
than butter and melts more slowly; In short, it's
Oleomargarine."
But it has a true butter flavor" the reporter
humbly suggested.
"Of course it has," said tie man of science.
'It's worked with milk and has enough butter in
it to favor it, AS to the color, that golden tint
is impaired by aunatto The annatto is ground
in oil, and the oleomargarine is colored with it.
Understand, don't object to fictitious butter.
If did my bread would go unspread great
deal of the time, as three-fourths CT the butter
sold In this city is sophisticated with foreign
fats"
Creamery butter, toof"
Eyes, a large part of the creamery butter,
though it looks rich as an orange in color, and
has a fine butter flavor. is three-fOurths OF that
tallowy substance called oleomargarine. Only
a short while ago I examined some creamery
butter sent here from Wisconsin. 1t came guar
anteed, and after all was almost entirely cleo
margarine. The honest farmer, too, has become
acquainted with the trick Of mixing the stuff
with his butter. We had an oleomargarine fac
tory here while ago, and everybody was quiet
about it while it was at work. because it did not
sell its product here, but sent II to dairy COM
pany at Louisville, KY. Well, there are num-
Der of cleo factories at work in the West, and
they have their product to get rid of. Their
agents go every where, to all the villages and TO
the farmers, who are informed as to the profit
they can make by mixing It with their butter.
The farmer gets tubtul of the Oleo
on trial, and mixes it with
his butter, and, presto! he has
more than doubled, perhaps trebled his product
and makes good profit on the increased amount
OF country butter This fictitious huJter-maklng
goes on all the year round. Butter dealers Will
| tell you that Oeomargarine costs as much as
butter when grass Is plenty, but that is untrue.
| 1t doesn't. L don't seriously object to oleomar-
garine itself, but do object to il when IL mas
| querades under the name OF creamery OF couu-
try butter. TO-, ..,..,,
| fully dOctored Skim-milk cheese enriched with
| cOtIon-seed oil is sold in this market as full
| cream cheese, lots of it. The curd Is made from
| skinned milk from which the cream is taken
| and sold or made into butter, the fat being sup
| pied by the cheaper cottOn-seed OIL This oil Is
not objectionable on the ground OF its being inju-
not; but it is fraud, and people
who buy this kind of cheese for what IL is not
| swindled. Dealers themselves are doubtless
often imposed upon, as the cheese Is branded as
coming from New York or Ohio cheese-making
| districts.
| Vinegar is anothsr article in common
| that is often fraudulently manufactured 1t
| used to be that sulphuric acid or muriatic acid
was used TO impart the required acidiry to the
substitute for cider vinegar, but chemistry gave
| two such simple tests that vinegar dealers were
enabled to easily detect these substitutes. few
drops of solution of nitrate of silver added to
a little OF the murlatlc article showed q curdy
precipitate to indicate the fraud, while the sui
/ phurca acid was made plain by adding sulphate
of barium, which developed white precipltate.
| Some time ago gentleman brought me sample
! of vinegar to examine. He said he thought OF
| buying forty or fifty barrels of II. aualyZed
| it, and when he came for my report told him 1t
had nitric acid, red pepper, iron, tin, lead and
vinegar had been made by hon
/ est old German who had large
orchard. l told him was sure of my analysis,
there could be no mistake ahoutit He went away
! deeply grieveG Soon after the honest old Ger
| man who had the large orchard came in. He
| chemistryF he asked Meier mind, yust gif
| you ten tollar If you say does tIngs are not in
| dere.' He had had certain proportion of cider
| to start with. Nitric acid had been used instead
of sulphuric because more difficult OF detection.
| Chloride of tin and sugar Of lead had been used
| muddy, and the burnt sugar or caramel mad
| been employed 10 give it color"
| "But to go back to oeOmargerlne," said the
| reporter, sis there no way by which housewife
| Can tell whether she has bought tallow or the
| udder thing"
| haps, requires one who is something of an ex-
| pert Is to cut the suspected butter with clean
| knife blade, ana them after dipping the blade in
! alcohol, ignite it-not with match, but some
clean flame. If there Is oleomargerine in it, as
it burns you will catch the taliowy flavor"