STATES RELATIONS SERVICE. 613 



The studies of the cost and conditions of living in farm homes 

 were continued in cooperation with the Bureau of Agricultural Eco- 

 nomics. In addition to tabulating and interpreting the results of 

 the survey made during 1921 in Livingston County, N. Y., and 

 preparing them for publication in bulletin form, the schedules have 

 been revised for use in further studies in other sections of the United 

 States. The field work on these studies has already begun in four 

 States. 



Another phase of work dealing with the economics of the home is 

 the preparation of a new blank form for use in making time studies 

 of household labor. By means of this form needed figures can be 

 obtained on the cost of preparing and serving food, making cloth- 

 ing and household linens, care of the house, laundry work, and vari- 

 ous other kinds of services performed in the home. Such informa- 

 tion is of assistance to the home manager in determining which serv- 

 ices are most essential and profitable, just as labor records have as- 

 sisted the farm manager in determining which farm practices are 

 most profitable. 



A systematic search of scientific literature and other sources of 

 information has been made for the purpose of revising and increas- 

 ing the scope of the bulletin entitled " The chemical composition of 

 American food materials," which was compiled originally in con- 

 nection with the nutrition investigations carried on by the depart- 

 ment. The list of foods has been considerably extended to include 

 those on which data were not hitherto available and others that have 

 come into the market since the original bulletin was published. 

 Special efforts have been made to bring together data about fruits 

 and vegetables, particularly tropical and subtropical kinds, that are 

 now grown or being tested in the United States or are of importance 

 in the Philippines and our island possessions. 



At the request of the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of 

 Standards, cooperating with the Office of Home Economics, resumed 

 the extended investigations on the tarnishing and detarnishing of 

 silver, begun some years ago but discontinued during the war period. 

 The tarnishing of silver was shown to be due to a sulphid film on 

 the surface of which certain colors are not only characteristic but 

 indicate the extent of the tarnish. Hydrogen sulphid gas, if pure 

 and dry, has little effect on silver. The presence of a small amount 

 of moisture and of sulphur dioxid greatly accelerates tarnishing, as 

 does the presence of films on the surface of the silver, such as a soap 

 film which remains after washing. 



Three methods of detarnishing silver were studied — the electro- 

 lytic, the abrasive, and the cyanid. The electrolytic method proved 

 to be the most desirable for household use because it is rapid and 

 entails less waste of silver than the others. The cyanid solution, 

 aside from its unsuitability for home use because of its poisonous 

 nature, proved to be particularly wasteful of silver. Study of the 

 rate of cleaning and corrosion of specimens was made to determine 

 the relative merits of solutions used. The formation and properties 

 of moss silver were studied. Potential differences between the vari- 

 ous cleaning devices and the silver specimens were determined. One 

 purpose of the work was the determination of the speed of operation 

 and the relative loss of silver. 



