262 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



prepared for publication. Of all notices of jud<2;ment published dur- 

 ing the past five years. 307, or 9.2 per cent, contain reference to viola- 

 tions of the net-weight amendment. Of these 307 cases, 19 per cent 

 contain no other charge than violation of the net-weiglit amendment. 

 Sixt3'-t\vo per cent contain a charge of shortage in weight or volume. 

 The average shortage in those cases prosecuted for that reason solely 

 was 10.8 per cent. One hundred and twenty-five seizures in which 

 net-weight violations A\ere involved were made tluring the period. 

 The pro(hi> ts against Avhich most of these notices of judgment have 

 been published are, in order: Olive oil, cottonseed meal, mineral 

 water, tomato pulp, and evaporated apples. 



The net-weight provision of the law was amended so as to bring 

 hams, sides of bacon, and similar meat products, when wrapped, 

 within its provisions. The language of this amendment is as follows : 



[Public, No. 22, 66th Cong., H. R. 7418.] 



AN ACT Makiug appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year 



ending June .SO, 1020. 



That the word "package" where it occurs tlie second and lust time in tlie 

 ;ict entitled "An act to ainend section S of an act entitled 'An act for preventing 

 the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or niislu'anded or poison- 

 ous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic 

 therein, and for other purposes,' '' approvetl March 3, 1913, shall include and 

 shall he construed to include wrapped meats inclosed in papers or other mate- 

 rials as prepared hy the manufacturers thereof for sale. 



In order to prevent the slack filling of canned fruits and vegetables, 

 the bureau has made an extensive investigation of the commercial 

 methods of canning employed in the case of some 30 of the more 

 common fruits and vegetables for the purpose of determining wdiat is 

 the greatest amount of solid material, exclusive of liquid, which can 

 be packed in cans of varfous sizes without causing anj^ impairment 

 of quality. Following this investigation the bureau addressed cir- 

 cular letters to commercial canners throughout the United States, 

 specif3'ing definite amounts of solid material, exclusive of liquid, 

 which should be present in cans of various sizes. The letters issued 

 during the year referred to spinach, Swiss chard, beet tops, Lima 

 beans, pears, pitted cherries, and sauerkraut. Announcements su})- 

 plementing previous ones were issued on wax and refugee beans, 

 peaches, and green peas. A very extensive inspection campaign has 

 been carried on for the purpose of securing observance of the opin- 

 ions expressed in these circular letters. As a result of this cam- 

 paign, the practice of packing cans with an excessive amount of 

 liquid and a deficient amount of fruits or vegetables, which was for- 

 merly followed by many canners, has been verj^ largely discontinued. 

 The results obtained are of great economic importance from the 

 standpoint of the consumer, inasmuch as great fraud, which the con- 

 sumer has been unable to detect prior to purchase and opening of the 

 cans, has been practiced in connection with the slack filling of cans 

 of certain fruits and vegetables. 



During the past year the courts have rendered several decisions con- 

 taining important interpretations of the law : 



The decision referred to in Notice of Judgment 7691 concerned the 

 adulteration of oil of sweet birch and oil of wintergreen with syn- 

 thetic methyl salicylate. Seizure of the goods had been made under 



