DIVISION' OF CHEMISTRY 225 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



Five brands of lime-sulphur sold in Canada have been analyzed, the sulphide 

 sulphur ranging from 21-87 per cent, to 25-09 per cent.,- amounts that may be con- 

 sidered satisfactory. The larger number of lime-sulphur washes put on the market 

 by reputable firms have been found of good quality. 



Potassium cyanide, when obtained in sealed original containers, has proved of 

 guaranteed strength. This chemical rapidly deteriorates on exposure, so that samples 

 taken from open bottles are frequently of inferior quality. 



Very considerable differences in water-content have been found to exist among 

 the various brands of lead arsenate upon the market and our results point to the 

 desirability of obliging the manufacturer to give a guarantee on the label of the 

 package stating the percentage of arsenate of lead present. 



The fertilizing value of rain and snow. — The total precipitation, as recorded at 

 the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, for the year ending February 29, 1913, was 

 39-36 inches, 9-62 inches falling in the form of snow. Analysis showed that this 

 furnished 6-144 pounds of nitrogen per acre in forms readily available for crop use. 

 Our records indicate that the proportions of this amount furnished respectively by 

 the rain and snow, have not appreciably varied for the past four years, about eight- 

 tenths of the nitrogen compounds being found in the rain. 



The water-supply of farm homesteads. — Of the 386 waters sent in during the 

 year from various parts of the Dominion, 188 have been submitted to a complete 

 sanitary analysis. Of these, eighty-nine were pronounced as pure and wholesome, 

 forty-three as suspicious and probably dangerous, forty-one as seriously contaminated 

 and fifteen as too saline to be used as a potable supply. 



The worst waters were from shallow wells dug in barn yards or in the neighbour- 

 hood of similar sources of pollution. These merely draw upon the ground water in 

 their immediate vicinity and must become, by reason of their location, contaminated. 

 We strongly advocate the abandonment of such wells. The bored or driven well 

 obtaining its supply from a deep-seated source and below one or more strata of imper- 

 vious rock, have, as a rule, yielded good water. Both as to quantity and quality, the 

 bored well is more satisfactory than the ' hole ' in the ground so commonly found in 

 the country. It is gratifying to note such wells are now replacing the old form of 

 supply on many Canadian farms. 



Miscellaneous. — The work of the year has also included the analysis of 185 sam- 

 ples for the Meat Inspection Division, Department of Agriculture. These were col- 

 lected at the various packing houses in Canada and included twelve lards, fourteen 

 preserved meats, fifty-six dye stuffs and colouring matters, sixty-four preservatives 

 and pickling solutions, thirty-one spices and condiments and eight miscellaneous. 

 This examination is made with a view of determining their nature, purity and char- 

 acter of adulteration, if present. 



Samples of water from Coquitlam lake, B.C., the source of the supply for the 

 city of New Westminster, and where a large dam is being constructed, have been 

 examined monthly for the Water-power Branch, Department of the Interior, for which 

 also a number of mechanical analyses of 'fill' used in dam construction in different 

 parts of the Dominion have been made. 



For the Dominion Parks Branch, Department of the Interior, we have reported 

 monthly on the water supply used at Banff, Alta. Our analyses show this to be a 

 water of exceptional purity. 



Analyses of a number of natural waters have been made at the request of the 

 Department of Marine and Fisheries, with a view to determining if certain alleged 

 pollution might be such as to affect fish life or hatchery operations. We have also 

 for many years past, reported on the composition of dog-fish scrap produced at the 

 Government Beduction Works in the Maritime Provinces. 



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