IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS. 33 



been preiDared for publication during the fiscal year a technical bulle- 

 tin and two popular bulletins. 



The work of collecting and editing data on food and nutrition 

 topics has been continued, as has also the preparation of material for 

 publication in the Experiment Station Eecord and in the subseries of 

 Farmers' Bulletins entitled Experiment Station Work. An in- 

 creasingly large amount of time is required for providing data on 

 nutrition and related topics, requested by housewives, teachers, and 

 other correspondents. 



During the year 1912 it is proposed to continue the work with 

 cheese and meat already in hand, in so far as this seems necessary, 

 and to undertake studies with the respiration calorimeter, in coopera- 

 tion with the Bureau of Animal Industry, of the nutritive value of 

 table and culinary fats, supplementing this work by special studies 

 of the use of different fats in preparing foods for the table- and of the 

 general use in the diet of this important group of foodstuffs. Plans 

 have also been made for extended studies of the gaseous exchange and 

 energ;\^ transformations of fruits and vegetables during the ripening 

 period, this Avork to be carried on in cooperation with other bureaus 

 of the department. Such work Avill be greatly facilitated by the use 

 of the small respiration calorimeter which has been constructed. 



For the year 1913 plans have been formulated which involve addi- 

 tional cooperative studies with the respiration calorimeter of prob- 

 lems concerned with fruits and vegetables during ripening and stor- 

 age, and other physiological studies of plant growth, as well as studies 

 of the changes which take place in animal food products — for instance, 

 butter, eggs, and cured meats during different conditions of storage. 

 It is also proposed to supplement the technical work by studies of 

 problems of household interest and to continue the preparation of 

 popular bulletins and otlier publications to meet the demands which 

 are made for them. 



IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS. 



The increased appropriation granted by Congress for the irrigation 

 investigatiojis of this office has made it possible to broaden the scope 

 of the work and to place agents in several States where they have 

 been needed for some time. The work has been continued along the 

 same general lines outlined in my report for 1910, and is still under 

 the direction of Samuel Fortier, chief. The most important changes 

 and extensions in the w^ork are noted in the following paragraphs: 



CALIFORNIA. 



Agreements have been entered into between the Department of 

 Agriculture and the conservation commission created by the 1911 



56095°— 12 3 



