White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1924-06-27
Butter Substitutes
Menace to Dairymen
BY H. A. HARRIS

lldIhCLS VI V06AAA6I0A anu oshSa
states, is a product of the cocoanut
tree. 1t is estimated that not less than
&c, 100000 Of these trees are growing
in the Philippine Islands, more than
one-half of the trees only being in
bearing at the present time. So 1t will
be seen that the problem of full-crop
production is still to be met. The CO.
coanut is tree of hardy habits, of
long life, and it is relatively free from
disease The labor needed to gather
the nuts and put them out to dry is
of the cheapest and most primitive
Oriental types. The land upon which
the trees grow is very cheap when
compared with farming lands in
America.
Margarine does not possess the
taste, the odor nor the color Of butter
when compounded directly from COM
ponent fats, which is one method of
preparing it. If, however, the compo-
nent fats are churned in skinned
milk or buttermilk the product takes
on trace of the odor and the taste
Of butter In other words, the manu-
facture Of margarine in large quaint
ties is made possible and profitable by
demand created on the basis of the
milk used in the process Of manufac-
ture, and not on the quality Of the
component fats.
| It must be remembered that the i'm
portation Of vegetable oils to replace
or to displace-animal fats repre-.
sents the first substantial importation
of foodstuffs on the national price
basis. It forecasts the first serious de.
pendence Of our country on imported
foods. If we continue the importation
on a large scale we admit the fact Of
the cheapness Of foreign labor and
the nominal value Of foreign lands.
And, finally, we admit the handicap
of the American farmer as an indi-
vidual in competition with the Orien.
tai in mass production.
| Nor is the dairyman the only suf
ferer from the competition Of the
| tropics. The hog raiser also finds his
problems intensified by the pressure
of lard substitutes and Industrial veg
etable oils. The alfalfa grower finds
his market limited on account Of the
shortage of dairy cows, while the i'm
portation Of butter substitutes offers
no sign of compensation for his loss
One reason why the cattle raiser and
the hog raiser do not find their voca
tion remunerative is because the low
price Of vegetable oils has reduced the
price of the fat by-products of the
hogs and cattle after they leave the
farm. The competition goes further
and has depressing effect on the
business of every merchant in the dis
tricts where dairying and stock rails
ing should be prosperous and growing.
In the State of Washington the>com
petition Of vegetable fats with butter
has been felt for several years, bat
until a short time ago protective
measures were not taken, because the
dairy industry was not organized and
in position to make it's needs felt
Shortly before the outbreak Of the
Franco-German War Of 1870, Empe.
ror Napoleon III directed French
chemist, M. Mege-Mouries. to investi
gate the possibility Of obtaining a
good cheap substitute for butter. for
the use of the French marines and
the poorer inhabitants Of Paris. The
chemist successfully used ox-tallow In
the experiment. That was the begin
ming of the manufacture of oleomar
garine.
Having established the butter sub
site in France, its promoters intro
duced it in Germany and Austria and
America, and finally in Russia. Ug
to the end Of the year 1880 all buttea
substitutes offered in the markets Of
the world were based on the formula
Of Mege-Mouries. Manufacturers foune
OK tallow too expensive, and the use
Of vegetable oils was introduced
Since that time the term margarine
has been used, more or less, to desig
nate the butter substitute with vege
table oils as base.
| Fats have four uses: On the dining
| table, in the kitchen, in the bakery
and In group Of important technical
processes. Each Of these uses haf
created it's own price level for the
| o,,c1;<,, op 1oto cnpc,,p,od IIpdov m I'd