WOODEN SEEDS FOR JAM.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7974, 27 February 1906, Page 7

WOODEN SEEDS FOR JAM.

'"Making wooden seeds for ra*p'berry jam" might suggest itself as a means of earning a living in -some world of Gilbartian fancy, says the Guardian. But it was in : sober' earnest that her occupation was thus desoribed by a girl on admission to a .London hospital some months ago, and when it was proved on inquiry that turnips and 'vegetable marrows formed the basis 1 of the rasperry jam, the raison d'etre of the wooden seedß was established satisfactorily enough. There are • other.revelations of the same kind In' World's Work and Play, and whether 'pleasant reading or. not, -they give plenty of food for thought. For although the public is protected to, some extent by legislation, and the fraudulent manufacturer now and again gets his deserts, the tempta'tion to ffaud remains undiminished —if it is not on the increase—and for this the ignorance, and it must be said the greed, of the consumer are largely responsible. The rage for cheapness'lies at the root of much of the adulteration of food that goes on to-day, as well as of the "sweating" in tailoring and dressmaking. In the desire to get as much and to give as little for it as possible, considerations of price in relation to quality, of a fair margin of profit for the producer and adequate remuneration of the worker are apt to go to the wall; the dishonest trader lis enriched; and fair competition -suffers. Moreover, want of wisdom an buying and wastefulness ; in using often go hand-in-hand, and the housekeeper who gets wooden seeds in her jam has as often as not only herself to thank.