236 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



study of the oiVoets of thoso ];)resorvativos upon the body, mid some 

 ol ihciii have been found to be decitU'dly injurious. The iiivesti<>^ii- 

 tions at the Virginia and New York State stations \V(»ul<I indicate 

 that their use is unnecessary. In the report of the work at the hitter 

 station it was stated that "it has been maintained that the use of 

 antiseptics is unavoidabk' in certain departments of camiinjj, but 

 the list of substances which have not been successfully canned with- 

 out the use of antiseptics is small. The use of such substances in 

 many cases is an admission cither of carelessness or ignorance on the 

 part of the canner." 



FOOD ADULTERATION. 



Many of the States have enacted legislation for the control of the 

 quality of the foods in their inarkets, and in some of them the duty 

 of inspecting foods has been placed with the experiment stations. 

 Methods for the detection of adulteration have been very highly de- 

 veloped by some of the stations, very notable work of this character 

 having been done at the Connecticut State Station.^ As a result of 

 the activities of the stations in this direction, the quality of food 

 materials on sale in the markets of the different States is being de- 

 cidedly improved. In many cases adulterated foods are not allowed 

 to be sold ; in other cases they are not prohibited from the markets, 

 but must be so branded as to indicate exactly what they are, what 

 adulterants, preservatives, etc., have been used in them, that the con- 

 sumer may know just what he is buying. 



Pure-food laws have been enacted in many of the States, Terri- 

 tories, and island possessions, and in some instances the carrying out 

 of the provisions of the law is intrusted to experiment station officials. 

 This is the case in Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, and North Dakota. 



CONCLUSION. 



It is perhaps unnecessary to cite other instances in order to empha- 

 size the fact that the exi^eriment stations are in general quite actively 

 interested in the solution of some of the many problems regarding 

 the food and nutrition of man. Perhaps it might be inferred, from 

 the nature of the institutions and the significance of the subject, that 

 such w'ould be the case. 



It is the proper business of an agricultural experiment station to 

 discover and establish the laws that underlie the right practice in 

 agriculture. The scientific investigations of the stations are con- 

 ducted in the interest of agi'icultural production. The activity in 

 any line of investigation is in proportion to the importance of the 

 problem. The chief agricultural product is food, wdiicli all need. 

 As there is opportunity for improvement in the feeding of fanii ani- 



o Connecticut State Sta. Annual Reports. 



