REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. XXV 



THE ASSOCIATION OF OFFICIAL AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTS. 



The patronage of the Department of Agriculture has, through the 

 Division of Chemistry, been continued to this official body, represent- 

 ing the chemists employed in the agricultural experiment stations and 

 colleges and in State and municipal bodies having control of food prod- 

 ucts. The practical effects of the work of this organization have been 

 most favorable to the advancement of our agricultural interests, and 

 also to securing, both at home and abroad, a proper recognition of 

 the valuable work of our agricultural chemists. There is no other 

 country in the world where agricultural chemical investigations are 

 pursued on so large a scale as in this country, and, through the organi- 

 zation of our chemical workers, we are securing a dominant influence 

 in the agricultural chemical councils of the world. This influence has 

 been recognized by the successive international congresses of applied 

 chemistry, held at Paris in 1896, at Vienna in 1898, and again at Paris 

 in 1900. 



EXAMINATION OF FOREIGN FOOD PRODUCTS. 



The study of the character of foreign food products introduced into 

 this country has been prosecuted with vigor during the past year. 

 The results of this study are of a confidential nature, and are used for 

 the information of the proper authorities of this country in the con- 

 trol of imported food products. 



COOPERATION WITH EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS. 



At the request of the heads of Executive Departments, the Division 

 of Chemistry has continued its extensive cooperation with those 

 Departments during the past year. 



For the War Department tests have been made of the chemical and 

 physical properties of the clotli intended for the manufacture of uni 

 forms for soldiers in the Tropics, and on the results of these analyses 

 the contracts for the cloth were concluded. 



Numerous anal^^ses of food materials have also been made at the 

 request of the Secretary of War for the guidance of the ration board 

 in selecting materials for an appropriate emergency ration for the 

 Army. 



Analytical investigations have also been conducted during the year 

 for the Departments of State and of Justice, the Post-Office and Navy 

 Departments, and for the U. S. Fish Commission. 



Collaboration with the Treasury Department in connection with the 

 methods of collecting duties on imported sugars has been continued, 

 and the Chief Chemist gave more than a month of his time to the work 

 during the year. The principle of the method of correcting polari- 

 scopic readings for the effect of temperature, which has been adopted 

 by th 3 Treasury Department for fixing duties on sugar, and which the 



