Search results

20. There is also a decree, dated 12th April, 1924, made under the authority of the Law of 21st December, 1923, which deals with the preparation of condensed milk and dried milk. The chief provisions of the decree are that the factory where the milk is prepared for export must be licensed by the Minister of Agriculture, and that it must have a satisfactory water supply and drainage system. It must also conform with the requirements of the Minister in regard to cleanliness. Definitions of condensed milk (full cream and skimmed), dried milk, homogenised milk and sterilised milk are also given. Rules are also laid down for the labelling of containers, and standards of purity are prescribed for the metal of which these are made. Provision is also made for the sampling of the products by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and their examination at the laboratory of the Ministry. A further decree of the same date deals with the sanitation and hygiene of condenseries, the sterilisation and proper condition of milk vessels, the cleansing of machinery, and the health of the workers in so far as risk of infection of the milk is concerned.

In his recent speech at the Bakers' and Confectioners' Exhibition at the Royal Agricultural Half Mr. Noel Buxton, the Minister of Agriculture, referred to the regulations for the application of the National Mark to all‐English flour, which will shortly come into force. For some years past competitions held in connection with the Exhibition have shown beyond question that bread and confectionery of the finest quality can be made of the flour produced from English wheat. The excellence of the home‐grown article has, in fact, been proved to the satisfaction of the best judges; and the Ministry of Agriculture consider that bakers and consumers, as well as the farmers who produce it, will stand to benefit by its more general use. It is, therefore, in the interests of all three parties that they propose to extend to English wheat the system of grading and standardization which has already been applied with marked success to other articles of diet, such as eggs, tomatoes, apples and pears, and cucumbers. So far as the farmers are concerned, everything that helps them to carry on the fight with their foreign competitors is advantageous to the nation as a whole, because it encourages them to produce more food, to maintain, and possibly to increase, the arable area of the country, and—a factor of real importance in dealing with the problem of unemployment—to keep more workers on the land. The more of his produce the farmer is able to sell, and—within limits—the better the prices he can obtain for it, the better will these ends be served. It is not, of course, to be expected that the public will invariably buy British in preference to foreign goods, simply because they are British. On the other hand, if they can be assured that they are of better quality than the same class of goods imported from abroad, then—as has been shown by the improved trade in British eggs since poultry farmers have been able, if they wish, to take advantage of the National Mark scheme—they are ready not only to make a practice of buying home‐grown rather than foreign produce, but also to pay higher prices for it. There are therefore good grounds for the expectation that the demand for English wheat flour will be improved by the definition of national standards of quality and the marketing of supplies of standard qualities under distinctive marks. The scheme for the voluntary grading and marking of this flour was introduced on October 1. A Trade Committee has been appointed to consider applications for permission to use the mark—a silhouette map of England and Wales—and all the flour bearing this mark will be sold under three standard grades and guaranteed as to type, flavour, and keeping quality. The designations of the three grades are All‐English (Plain), All‐English (Self‐Raising), and All‐English (Yeoman). All three are defined as being sound, free from taint or objectionable flavour, of good keeping quality, and unbleached by artificial means. The first and third are further guaranteed to be free from all added chemical substances, though the second may contain such ingredients, or mixture of ingredients, as may be required (under certain definite regulations) to make the flour self‐raising. The scheme is open to millers and other packers of English wheat flour, and every registered packer must allow his premises and all equipment and records to be inspected at any reasonable time by any officer of the Ministry of Agriculture authorized for that purpose, besides complying with other regulations the general effect of which is to make it impossible for any flour bearing the National Mark to fall below the certified standard of its particular grade. Mr. Buxton was able to say that the scheme is already receiving excellent support from the millers, and all that is needed to give it the success which it deserves is that the public should co‐operate by letting the bakers know that graded all‐English flour is what they want and expect them to use. It is in their power to create a demand which will provide them with a pure food of the highest quality, and will at the same time do the British farmers a much‐needed good turn.

The Annual Report of the Ministry of Health for the year 1928–1929 states that 129,034 samples of food and drugs were reported upon by Public Analysts in England and Wales in 1928, an increase of 4,770 over 1927. Of these samples, 7,524 were reported as adulterated or not up to standard, a proportion of 5·8 per cent., the same as in 1926, and slightly more than the proportion (5·5 per cent.) for 1927. It is noteworthy that apart from milk there was a substantial reduction in the recorded percentage of adulteration (viz., from 4·2 in 1926 and 3·9 in 1927 to 3·2 in 1928) in spite of the operation of the Preservatives Regulations. The appointments of 46 Public Analysts in England were approved during the year.

The following is a complete list of World's Records as officially homologated by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale up to December 31, 1929

We confess that we get a little tired of the claims of originality put forward by librarians or their admirers, often for things that have been in use for a quarter of a century. The public events diary, exhibitions of holiday literature, this or that form of reading list, library lessons, and what not, all of which have been familiar to us since the beginning of the century, have all been claimed recently by some library or other which is “showing the way.” Originality, alas, is very rare; and the claim might be avoided we think. At the same time, we much prefer the librarian who faces a problem himself, and shouts with delight at his solution, to one who faces nothing.

WE are always averse to indulging in any controversy that involves the booksellers. At the Brighton Conference a well‐known representative of the Booksellers' Association delivered an address in which he asked for the co‐operation of booksellers and librarians. Our present President, Mr. Jast, assured him on behalf of the meeting that it will be forthcoming whenever possible. In America the Association of Booksellers works in the closest harmony with the libraries, using their publications, and booksellers and libraries mutually advertise and otherwise assist each other. It is rather painful to read in The Publishers' Circular, which may or may not represent British booksellers as a whole, that the Editor regards libraries as an expensive method of disseminating fiction which ought to be bought by readers; that libraries interfere with and compete with booksellers in a disastrous manner, and more to the same effect.

THE programme of the Bournemouth Conference shows variety enough concentrated into its three days of business to satisfy even that Mr. Smith, of Leicester, who made Cheltenham memorable for the cheap press. The main subject appears to be book selection of two kinds, adult and junior. Mr. Callender has been given a difficult task, and it does not appear conceivable that any very practical issue can come of the debate even with Mr. Jast as opener. Book‐selection must be the application of a series of definite answers to such questions as “What is a good book?” “What is a bad book?” “When may an inferior book prove to be the best for the end in view?” and so on; and that is a matter first for a committee, which may give well‐led and lengthy deliberation to the subject; it certainly won't come to much in open conference. Much the same must be the case with “An Analysis of Child Reading,” even if Mr. Osborne leads and Mr. Berwick Sayers follows him. On what enquiry will the analysis be based? Who has analysed children's reading in England on any scale that would justify public debate?

BEGINNING with our July issue, which is the first Number of Volume XXXV, we have decided to change the format of The Library World and enlarge the size of the page. It is hoped by this means to give increased reading matter and to be of greater service to the Profession. We are proud of the fact that The Library World has been published continuously since 1898, and that during this long record our policy has been one of continued progress.

ALL the auguries for the Bournemouth Conference appear to be good. Our local secretary, Mr. Charles Riddle, seems to have spared neither energy nor ability to render our second visit to the town, whose libraries he initiated and has controlled for thirty‐seven years, useful and enjoyable. There will not be quite so many social events as usual, but that is appropriate in the national circumstances. There will be enough of all sorts of meetings to supply what the President of the A.L.A. describes as “the calling which collects and organizes books and other printed matter for the use and benefit of mankind and which brings together the reader and the printed word in a vital relationship.” We hope the discussions will be thorough, but without those long auto‐biographical speeches which are meant for home newspapers, that readers will make time for seeing the exhibitions, and that Bournemouth will be a source of health and pleasure to all our readers who can be there.

BOURNEMOUTH fulfilled some of the high expectations of those who attended it. The welcome was cordial, the local arrangements good, as we were entitled to expect from so proved an organizer as Mr. Charles Riddle and from his committee and staff, and, when fine, the town was most attractive. The weather, however, was bad, and too warm at the same time for most of us. One thing that certainly emerged from this experience was the real need to change the time of the conference. Only librarians among similar bodies appear to meet in the summer season. The accountants, engineers and other professional people confer in late May or in June, when they do not compete with holiday‐makers for accommodation and attention. The Council might well consider the re‐arrangement of its year with such a change in view.