200 ANNUAL EEPOETS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



Examination of miscellaneous samples. 



STANDARDIZATION AND COLLABORATION. 



The standard type samples for the gradmg of rosin, prepared by 

 the Bureau of Chemistry, were adopted by the boards of trade of 

 Savannah, Ga. ; Jacksonville, Fla. ; Pensacola, Fla. ; and Mobile, Ala. ; 

 the produce exchanges of New York City and New Orleans, La., and 

 the State of Florida. Independent producers, dealers, and con- 

 sumers generally also adopted these standards. These types have 

 thus become the recognized standards on wdiich all rosin transactions 

 are based. It was contemplated that the glass types should be used 

 in all grading, but it was impossible to secure enough of the proper 

 material from European countries, with the result that a sufficient 

 number of standards is not yet available. The glass standards, 

 therefore, have been used mainly for the preparation of rosin t^q^es. 

 Examinations of these types by the bureau have shown less variation 

 than existed before the glass standards were issued. The agreement 

 with the standard, however, is not entirely satisfactory, as the bureau 

 has frequently pointed out, owing to the great difficulty in obtaining 

 rosin precisely on the standard and to difficulty in cutting the pieces 

 of rosin. 



Collaboration with the University of Idaho on the chemical utiliza- 

 tion of Idaho woods, begun during the previous fiscal year, was 

 continued. 



For other bureaus of the Department of Agriculture 10,292 sam- 

 ples were analyzed by the laboratories in Washington, while 1,596 

 samples w^ere analyzed for other executive departments and Govern- 

 ment establishments, making a total of 11,888 samples. This total 

 does not include samples that were analj^zed by the branch 

 laboratories of the field service of the bureau. 



