The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-02-01
Was Crow Before

Was Crown Before
To the EditOr:-If the law taxing
colored oleomargarine is repealed it
Will prove a stunning blow to every
farmer who keeps but a small dairy
herd. There can be no great pros
pcrity to the Southern farmer who
tries to farm without live stock. The
South is Just waking up to this tact
land small dairieS are Sptlnging up
all over the South. There is 10 sec
ton of the Guntry better adapted
to dairying than the South and there
should be no a~ntagonism between the
cotton oil man and the dairy man
h COW has already made a market
for cotton seed meal and the price
has advanced SO per ton in the last
few years. Now has she got to take
care of the cotton Oil also? The aver
age fal mel knows very little about
the manufacture or nature OF cleo and
for this reason every Southern farmer
should post himself on the subject
that he may aid In protecting the
dairy industry.
Cleo comes from the packing
houses as a by~-product. Something
that could not be sold for anything
else and used to be wasted. Its nat
ural color being white, it was colored
to resemble butter, and was sold as
butter for years. Thousands Of peo-
pie bought cleo thinking they were
getting butter, others bought it be-
cause it was cheaper than genuin2 put
ter. Naturally the low price at which
| cleo could be sold together with the
deception Of many people was forcing
| real butter from the market and ne
dairy industry was suffering great
loss. At this time h United states
Government stepped in and renewed
the situation by taxing the manufac-
- = 49, ,,ftn d n
pound ON the ~un-colored and lOc. per
| pound on that coiored like butter. This
tax has had a tWO-fOld purpose:
1t protects the consumer from be
ing imposed upon, that Is paying 1or
butter and getting Oleo. 1t also pro-
tects the dairyman from dishonest
competition tina was running their
business. This tax is not and never
was for the o. raising TeVe-
nue.. but it is stated that the tax
should be lowered, as the high rate
OF taxation makes the sale OF coicrcd
cleo improbable and cuts down the
evenue from this source. No objection
is offered to the tax on u~n-colored
oleo and there is the "Nigger in the
wood pile The cleo interests are
simply trying another way to OBTAIN
legislation that will protect them in
the manufacture and sale Of an artt-
fetal compound hat would seriously
ITlDDIS tlIt daI1S SIN oii| ~
our greatest and most legitimate
branches of agriculture and one that
is absolutely necessary to keep up the
soil fertility in the South. II the oleo
interests really want to give oieo "a
square deal" Why do they not pay the
small t2x-rate Of lac per pound and
save the extra = 3-ic.!
To any enactment that VII
lower this just rate OF taxation on
oieo. rme and dairymen every
where should write their Congressman
briefly exposing this trick that the
cleo manufacturers are trying to play
on the zeal of our legislators TO III
crease government revenue
Let the cow alone and she VIII eat
all the cotton seed meal and hulls
made in t.le SOUTH and so enrich the
soil that two bales OF cotton a be
GROWN where only one was grown be-
fore. FINALLY. everything the dairynnan
feeds is higher than ever and butter
has only advanced with all other ne
ces$itics OF life and not because there
Is a lax On eOlOrcd cleo.
W. J. SHUFDRD.
hickory. n. e. jar. 22.
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