150 EEPOET OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



commonly practiced in the chemical laboratories. It is stated that 

 the presence of this body in sugars makes the ordinary Clerget 

 determinations of the sugars as unreliable as the single polarization 

 methods. 



Work was continued on the hyperimmunization of sheep for the 

 purpose of producing a protective serum against anthrax. The 

 results, as a rule, have thus far been somewhat uncertain, and it was 

 found that the serum has a tendency to deteriorate rapidly. 



The investigations on combustion in bagasse furnaces were con- 

 tinued during the year, and Bulletin 117 Avas published on this sub- 

 ject. Among the facts brought out in this investigation was that the 

 heat value of dry bagasse per pound, which averaged 8,375 British 

 thermal units in the tests made, varied but little and that the varia- 

 tion is ai^parently due to differences in ash content. Studies were 

 made of the amount of air supplied through stack dampers as related 

 to the amount of bagasse used for fuel, and an effort was put forth 

 to determine the theoretical considerations which should govern the 

 construction of bagasse furnaces, with si3ecial reference to the rela- 

 tion of consumption of bagasse to the amount of air supplied in the 

 furnaces. 



Investigations supported by Hatch and other funds were carried 

 on by the different stations. At the State station at Baton Rouge 

 the work was largely along lines previously reported. With cotton 

 tests of varieties under boll-weevil conditions were made, and cul- 

 ture, fertilizer, and rotation experiments were conducted. Similar 

 work was done with corn and oats. The forage-crop work was con- 

 tinued and enlarged, and attention was given particularly to tests 

 with soy beans, cowpeas, peanuts, sweet potatoes, fodder beets, ruta- 

 bagas, and other forage crojDS. Pasturage and feeding experiments 

 were conducted with steers, pigs, and sheep, largely with reference 

 to the use of various forage crops, including Lespedeza hay, and 

 also with reference to the establishment of a satisfactory system of 

 farming by which green crops may be grown the year round and 

 protein supplied in cheaper feeds than cottonseed meal. 



The work in horticulture included variety tests of garden crops, 

 the determination of shipping qualities in vegetables, and the intro- 

 duction and testing of new varieties. With tomatoes experiments 

 were carried on to determine the canning qualities of some of the 

 most productive sorts and their yielding capacity under different 

 conditions of culture and when planted at different times. 



The work of the veterinary department was largely of an advisory 

 capacity in connection with the department of animal pathology 

 and in aiding to establish a hog-cholera serum plant. Attention 

 was also given to the execution of the plans for the eradication of 

 the cattle tick and the suppression of infectious diseases. 



