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Show BEAN MILK. In ease the dairy business goes to smash in this country, which is not at all likely, a substitute for cow's milk can easily be found, for the Chinese long ago discovered that milk good enough for all practical purposes can be made by crushing a small yellow bean grown in the oriental country. Come to think of it, the Germans could make use of this substitute at the present time, if there is anything in the story that there is a scarcity of milk in the central empires. em-pires. We are not informed as to whether wheth-er babies would thrive upon bean milk, but, as beans are healthful and nourish ing, albeit somewhat plebeian, it is quite passible the little ones would not suffer suf-fer any ill effects, once they got used to the purely vegetable diet. The American consul at Changsha, China, discovered a bean milk factory and proceeded to investigate his find. He reports the process a very simple one. The beanB are soaked and then crushed between two stones. The crushed mass iB allowed to run off into a tub and is then strained through cheese cloth and diluted with water and boiled. After boiling, it is again strained and the white milk run off into bottles and sold to the factory's customers. cus-tomers. An analysis of the bean-curd milk shows that it has a specific gravity of 1.020 and a fat content of 3.125, contrasted with a specific gravity of 1.020 and a fat content of 3.9 for good average cow's milk in America. The Chinese proprietors of this little factory are said to employ strictly sanitary sani-tary methods in the operation of their plant and at onco seized upon the suggestion sug-gestion of an inspecting physician that the bottles be sterilized. The bean t milk is made at night, in order that it j may be fresh for the uso of customers in the morning. To the eye the product looks exactly like unskimmed cow's milk. It has sn odor like raw beans ,and is said to be not unpleasant to the tasto. Although tho process has been known for a long time, the Cliangftha factory is a new enterprise, and, without doubt, the Chinese will build other factories to supply tho growiug demand and it may be that similar plants will be erected in other countries. Tho French people are using the bean-curd milk.io somo extent, for it is said a member of tho family of Li Hung Chang is now engaged in the manufacture of the various products of beans in Paris, his factory turning out, among other things, this bean milk. In these days of commercial activity tho whole world is being ransacked for new ideas, the chances for working up trade not being overlooked. The principal work of American consuls con-suls abroad is to make a careful survey of the districts to which they are assigned as-signed and report the trade possibilities. In this way a surprising amount of information in-formation is reaching the United States and, it is needless to say, is being used to the best advantage. In this particular particu-lar case the consul is of the opinion that if the bean milk industry grows to any extent manufacturers of milk bottles and patent milk-bottle tops will find a market for their wares at Changsha and other Chinese cities, if they can be brought in cheaply. Even if we shudder at the very thought-of using milk that has the odor of raw beans, we will be willing to supply the Chinese with all the bottles and patent bottle-tops they can use. So, in addition to the information infor-mation regarding the manufacture of the bean product, we are given an opportunity op-portunity to work up a little trade by the consul 's report. |