Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-03

catsup on a. Sllde, presses cover GLASS
upon it to make it nice and thin and
trains upon it his trusty microscope.
He knows how the cells of normal cat
SUP should look. of course, and SO may
you if you care to study the cut.
X
But If imperfect fruit has been used
there may be seen filaments OF mold.
Or there may be decay, caused by bac-
terra; in that case the tomato cells VIII
show the decay and the debris left by
the bacteria. Spores Of the mold cause
dry rot in tomatoes. There may be
yeast which, of course. is indicative OF
chemical change.
Not alone may decaying tomatoes be
detected in the canned product, but de-
| caying apples, plums, biackDerries as
| we'll under the microscope. Exafnlhd
tions are made of healthy apple cells ana
the cells from decayed fruit; also the
mold from decaying plum and the vine
gar cells" found in decaying blacKperIles.
With the use of a good microscope any
one may investigate catsups ana cahheu
goods at home, for even the nome can
| ming NAV not be all that 1t should De,
/ although ordinarily, the goods Oh the
| housekeeper are practically free from
bacteria or mold. Some have been ex-
| amined that were 100 per cent 1ree- lnis
is rarely found, and a reasonable numoer
| ~ Ia cteria are not considered objection
! able. a,,u,a,+s
| and decaying cells may be delec'eu
| with the naked eye, and as soou
| housewife is usually careful to cut
| away the fruit well beyond the danger
| zone her canned article IS nkeiy 70 pc
| we'll nigh perfect. sometimes IL .he
| cells are not greatly broken up, the
shores and filaments may be detected
in the prepared fruits or vegetables.
The :.vinegar ee,s" in blackberries
| often grow large enough to be seen
with the naked eye, though IL REQUIRES
ter to have q microscope, one SivihS
| magnifications of 80 to 500 diameters.
Naturally, a microscope with greater
number of magnifications Will give
| better service.
Sometimes the fact that decomposed
stock has been used in the manufac-
ture of catsup may be detected by
simple inspection of the bottle. feasts
ar bacteria tend to settle out in the
package. so that a bottle of such a
product will show a whitish sediment
composed largely of the organisms IL
II is not shaken from time to time.
Tests have shown that a week is suf-
ficiently long enough for such a sepa-
ration to take place Though fairly
good catsup may show a slight sedi-
ment, this is one Of the best methods
by which a purchaser may obtain an
idea of the character of the product.
There are other questions not so
easy to settle with fairness to all con-
cerned. good deal of an oyster is
water-that is. juice. Just exactly how
much liquid should be put in an oys-
ter can so that both the manufacturer
and the purchaser should have their
rights was not an easy question TO
| -ar1 sol ho I'M =
cation of the oyster question began
about five years ago. Inspectors stud
led the oysters. inspected the cans,
carried on their work in the factories
up and down the coast.
1t was found. as seems to be often
| the case, that the man who bought the
! poorest grade of canned oysters was
really paying more for the value he
received than the person who bought
a can with more oysters in it. The
man who bought, say, two ounces of
oysters in his can, paid at the rate of
! | about 40 cents pound for his meat.
The man who bought the second grade,
receiving about five ounces of oyster
! meat, paid at the rate of about 81 cents
pound for his meat: while the man
who bought ten ounces of oysters if
can only paid a little more than 20
cents.
The government is exercised over see
Ing that, not only shall the consumer not
pay his perfectly good money for water
which has no relation whatsoever to the
oyster. but that the man who is not able
to buy the better grade of goods shall at
, least get as much for the little he pays
as does the man who can pay more for
the much he pays.
The volume of a biscuit betrays the ma
ture of the flour. Some Hours give off
! their gases more readily than others and
, so produce a bread Of greater density and
less volume. public baker certainly
|; would not desire this. and "A housewife
. | might not. If she. the housewife, de-
sired to compare different kinds of flour
. for herself, she could easily do so.
fl To ascertain the volume of biscuit,