The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-12-27

tNtCt as MutA as usual AS cheap as
candy has become. it is still rarity 10
many little children. except at Christ
mas time, when by special effort parents
somehow manage TO secCss IL IN some
shape for them. Millions Of dol
lars worth of candy is made and
eaten in America every year. most Of It
appearing on the market at Christmas.
In addition TO this. expensive French
bonbons are also demanded by our people,
pound or so per capita, and the Ameri-
can sweet tooth calls for maple sugar
besides, utilizing every grain that is made
IN this country and then getting only
pound and half a year each. In some
form or other, the American gets To.4
pounds Of sugar for his individual an
nual consumption. II is an increased
prosperity as well as an increased fond
ness for sweets that allows this, and il
is interesting 10 contrast seventy pounds
per capita with Italy's seven.
Mpadi. with her box Of candied vlo-
lets, Fido with his bit Of French candy
the American business man with his
amber-colored corn syrup. and the neg
lected child Of the Blocker street tene-
ments sucking its cherished IoIypop-aI
prove in varying degrees the national
craving for sweets that finds its highest
qualification at this season. The average
American must have syrup in some form
on his morning cakes, and whether It be
maple syrup in New England. sugar
house mOlasses IN New Orleans. or
sorghum in the middle country farms. il
amounts 10 several gallons a head every
year and runs up the sweet-tooth bill
considerably The poor white" has long
been known in history and fiction as one
who uses sugar for short sweetenin' q"
and molasses for long sweetenin' in
his six cups OF coffee d day. The pick
aninny Of the Southern plantation who
cannot have a judicious mixture Of gravy
and mOlasses on his corn pone summer
and winter. feels sorely grieved. Even
the mules Of Louisiana have been known
10 get greatly depressed when that by
product Of plantation sugar mills known
as third molasses" was denied them.
The fear that sugar may bring on govt
or rheumatism or cause the teeth TO be-
come bad has been banished by ex-
perience. The scientists have declared
that an adult can consume a quarter OF
a pound Of sugar every twenty-four hours
not only without detriment 10 the sys-
TEN. but with beneficial results. It has
been recommended that soldiers be given
sweets in some form when or the march.
for il reyives The system quicker than
other foods. and next 70 oils and fat
gives most heat and energy. The woman
explorer who declared that when her
rations We're lost on an Alaskan trip and
that she and her guides and dogs lived
on flve-pound box Of candy thirty-six
hours is halfway believed now. though
she was laughed TO scorn when she told
the story five years ago.
American white sugar is adultersted
less than almost any other foodstun It
is too cheap TO make il worth while TO
try and foist a doctored product on the
public DR.. Wiley IN his latest analyses
found the only adulterants to be traces
OF sulphuric acid from the clarifying pro-
cesses. and particles Of ultramariue blue
which are used on the yellow sugar to
make IL white. The silicate, ground
gypsum, and chalk that were found in
sugar IN considerable quantities in the
past decade or two are all things Of
the past. In the eyes Of the fastidious.
the white sugar IS decided Improvement
on the first importations This was a
sticky yellOW-brown substance that was
run through handmills after arriving at
the larger cities in great tierces with the
strip settled thicAly I'm the bottom. Up
till sixty years ago the difference between
the cost OF raw and refined sugar WAS
10 cents. Modern invention and centrall-
zation OF capital and effort have material
" decreased this.
Even if white sugar is pure. It Is rare
thing to get a piece OF maple sugar. that
is the genuine article. City folk who
write back to their old country homes IN
New England usually manage 10 get the
real thing. but the average American
must take his chances. often the cake
he buys for 10 cents is merely underlined
sugar favored with maple sugar. or more
often IL is a glucose product richly flaw
ored with a syrup made from the extract
OF hickory bark and wood In fact. the
hickory flavor has been legitimatlzed by
a patent taken out by an Indiana man
some years ago. a measure to secure for
himself a monopoly Of this business. The
Indians taught the early New England
ers how 20 get the sap from maple trees
and how TO make the sugar and syrup
after most primitive methods. 1t sup
piled almost the only comfort TO the early
sweet tooth. and with the ENCOURAGEMENT
OF the Department Of Agriculture may
rise again to the heights il attained In
1850, and which il has not touched since
The maple sugar territory is not re-
stricted 10 New England but reaches
from Michigan on the west TO Kentucky
and East Tennessee on the south. If
properly protected and IN a forest not
too thickly set, a good maple tree should.
under favorable conditions. yield from
four to five gallons OF sap every twenty
four hours, in season which begins the
middle Of March and lasts from four TO
six weeks.
1t is IN beet sugar that the United
States has made the greatest progress in
the past decade when trying TO provide
the necessary sweets for her citizens.
One would hardly think of connecting
Napoleon with beet sugar, and vet he
gave the raising Of the sugar beet its
needed impetus in Europe by making it
a national industry in 1911. and ordering
that 10000 hectares be planted. Wiscon-
sin and Illinois made attempts at cult
waiting Il In 1880 and failed. In 1887 the first
successful factory was established on the
Pacific Slope at Alvarado, Cal, and now
the West. all through its irrigated as well
as its naturally water regions: the North
west ana the States OF the Middle West
are in the business on a large scale.
Michigan leading in the number Of fac
tories. 1t is not possible to enter on this
business except on a large scale, for il
takes $4,000 TO build a factory Of a
capacity Of 800 tons OF beets q day.
Sweets have not always been so well
within the reach Of Americans. England
made the early colonies buv sugar direct