102 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



use for the purpose, on which circulars have been issued. The varia- 

 tions in drawn and undrawn poultry were experimentally studied on 

 a commercial scale, as were also the comparative merits of scalded and 

 dry-picked fowls. In every case the chemical and bacteriological 

 changes determined are correlated with the history of the shipment 

 and of the conditions of the experiment, and in tliis way the many 

 factors entering into the problem are controlled. Shipments were 

 made in hot and cold weather and, as far as possible, all the variations 

 occurring in actual practice were duplicated and their effect on the 

 problem weighed. An investigation of the egg industry along ex- 

 actly the same lines has been inaugurated, data having already been 

 obtained on the changes taking place in eggs of known history and 

 of low commercial grade, during varying periods of storage and at 

 different temperatures, which will serve as the scientific basis for 

 the study of commercial conditions. 



Desiccated eggs. — Eggs put up in bulk, either frozen or dried, 

 have disclosed in a number of instances the presence of decayed and 

 filthy substance, showing plainly that either purposely or through 

 carelessness spoiled eggs are broken into the cans. A number of 

 notices of judgment have been issued in such cases, and it was deemed 

 wise to make a thorough inspection of egg-packing establishments, 

 observing the procedure from the candling of the eggs to the finishing 

 of the product, and accompanying the inspection with the sampling 

 of the output at various stages for the making of chemical and 

 especially bacteriological examinations. It is obvious that the main 

 consideration is the use of fresh material under sanitary conditions, 

 but it was also developed that some of the details of handhng in 

 various packing houses result in lower bacterial counts and a better 

 product than others, and suggestions will be made along these lines. 



Condensed milks. — An extensive investigation of this product, so 

 widely used and relied upon to furnish nutriment for the young, was 

 ordered because of the fact that the manufacturers claimed that the 

 present requirement of 28 per cent of total solids was unreasonable, 

 it being impossible to produce a uniform product of this composition 

 in different parts of the country and at different seasons of the year 

 and have it meet the requirements in other respects. In order to 

 insure justice to the consumer and producer ahke establishments of 

 this character have been visited throughout the country, and espe- 

 cially on the Pacific coast, to obtain data in regard to the character of 

 the raw material and methods of manufacture which, together with 

 the chemical examination of the finished products of laiown history, 

 wiU provide indisputable data for the settlement of this mooted 

 question. The inspection has been completed and the results are in 

 process of compilation. 



