34 KEPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



which would inchide work with the respiration calorimeter, and it 

 is believed that such studies and the supplementary work along these 

 lines which has already been done by the department could not fail 

 to yield results of importance in discussing the available food supply 

 with reference to economical and rational living. 



It seems fair to say that the recent adaptation of the respiration 

 calorimeter to experiments with vegetable products marks a decided 

 advance in agricultural investigation. In work imdertaken in coop- 

 eration with the Bureau of Chemistry studies have been made of 

 ripening fruit (bananas), in which the gaseous exchange and energy 

 output were measured during the ripening period. The results are 

 of decided interest theoretically, and also for their bearing on prob- 

 lems relating to fruit handling and storage. Plans have been formu- 

 lated for other investigations which have to do with questions of 

 vegetable physiology in which the department is interested, the work 

 to be undertaken in cooperation with other bureaus. 



There are many problems concerned with the relation between food 

 consumption and the production of useful work on the farm and in 

 the home which are of great importance and special interest at this 

 time, when so much attention is being directed to the problem of 

 efficiency in the production of useful labor. Work already under- 

 taken shows that such problems can be studied with the respiration 

 calorimeter as readily and as satisfactorily as the relation of fuel to 

 the production of work in an engine can be determined by the lab- 

 oratory methods commonly used in the study of such a question. 

 Indeed, it would seem that the respiration calorimeter or some similar 

 device is a necessity if certain data are to be procured which are 

 fundamental to the adequate discussion of problems pertaining to 

 the production of useful work. 



The question of insuring satisfactory luncheons for school chil- 

 dren, and the related problem of supplying under municipal and 

 philanthropic auspices food for needy school children, are assuming 

 great importance and a widespread interest is manifested in this 

 whole subject. Data regarding many phases of this question are 

 frequently requested from the Department of Agriculture and can be 

 supplied from the accumulated results of past experiments. However, 

 some additional information should be sought by the improved 

 methods of experimenting which are now available. 



Requests are also frequently received from institution managers for 

 advice and suggestions regarding food problems which arise when a 

 large number of persons are fed under more or less uniform condi- 

 tions. It is possible in this case also to supply a large amount of in- 

 formation derived from facts accumulated in connection with earlier 

 experiments of the department. Here, too, additional data are much 

 needed and could be readily accumulated. 



