REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 101 



Ohio, at Sandusky, where 1,077 samples of apples and grapes and 

 their by-products have been examined during this year. Various 

 methods of sophistication were applied and the chemical history of 

 the product studied, as the data are used to assist in administering 

 the food law. A parallel study is made of the composition of prod- 

 ucts of known history made in the laboratory which provides valuable 

 data on the composition of 62 wines made under controlled conditions 

 from nearly all of the important varieties of grapes used for this 

 purpose in the eastern part of the country. This work is further 

 elaborated by the systematic collection and examination of com- 

 mercial samples, data on 316 such samples having been accumulated 

 so far. Yeast cultures of different varieties found to have special 

 value are still furnished as starters to laboratories and manufacturers 

 with instruction as to their use, thus aiding in improving the 

 technique of fermentation industries and the quality of the output. 



DAIRY PRODUCTS AND POULTRY. 



Deterioratiox of poultry and eggs. — The study of the deteri- 

 oration of poultry and eggs, which at first was concerned chiefly with 

 changes occurring during storage, has broadened out so as include 

 every step in the handling of these products. It was soon found 

 that in no other way could the problems involved be attacked, 

 inasmuch as the chemical and bacteriological data obtained could 

 only be intelligently interpreted by a knowledge of the history of 

 the product before enterirlg storage, including methods of killing, 

 .dressing, shipping, and marketing. To this end the cooperation of 

 associations of poultry dressers, merchants, railways, refrigeration 

 transportation companies, and warehousemen has been obtained and 

 the most interesting and instructive data have been assembled. The 

 interrelations established explain many variations in data, and in 

 turn the scientific observations set their stamp plainly upon the 

 various methods as producing satisfactory or unsatisfactory prod- 

 ucts. Extensive shipping experiments were made from Chicago as 

 a center. After visiting the large poultry packing houses through- 

 out the Middle West, observing their methods, and making an accu- 

 rate record of every detail of manipulation, shipments were sent to 

 Chicago, the carload was met on its arrival, samples were taken for 

 laboratory work, the condition of the car and its contents were 

 examined, including the temperature records, and some of the pack- 

 ages were followed further through the warehouses and the market 

 handling, including in several cases a second shipment by rail. 



Specific practical points observed to have a direct bearing on the 

 quality and keeping j)roperties of the product have been studied in 

 the field laboratories located at packing houses — for example, the 

 best way of killing and bleeding fowls and the proper implement to 



