452 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



in the manufiicture of fruit juices and fermented by-products to 

 establish a temporary laboratory in the northern grape belt. This 

 laboratory, for convenience of access to the crop, as -well as to the 

 large manufactories, was placed at Sandusky, Ohio, and has been 

 in operation practically throughout the fiscal year. The greater part 

 of the work consisted in the chemical examination of the grape crop 

 and by-])roducts to determine the sugars, acids, and other important 

 elements, G24 samples being analyzed. Four hundred and fifty-three 

 samples of apples and their by-products were also examined, a total 

 of 1,077 samples of fruits and fruit products analyzed at the San- 

 dusky laboratory and involving above 8,000 determinations. This 

 work has furnished a large amount of important data, which will 

 have much value for reference and eventually aid in establishing the 

 facts as to the proper composition of these products. 



In connection with the study of the fruits, both grapes and apples, 

 as presented for the manufacture of by-products, a number of fer- 

 mented products were made in the laboratory in sufficient quantities 

 to furnish full chemical data on all stages of the entire process of 

 manufacture and on the finished article. As this work is especially 

 designed to supply data for use in the administration of the food 

 law, various methods of sophisticating fruit products were applied, 

 and the chemical history of the product was carefully determined. 



This investigation is now well under way, but several years will 

 be required to complete the work so as to give reliable data, which 

 shall cover the variations in the composition of the fruit from year 

 to year. 



Composition of commercial ciders and wines and or those or 

 KNOWN HISTORY. — At the main laboratory at Charlottesville the 

 chemical investigation of the composition of pure wines and ciders 

 of known history has gone steadily forward. There are now under 

 observation 62 wines made under strict control, including samples 

 from most of the important varieties of grapes used for this purpose 

 in the eastern United States. Ten samples of ciders are under obser- 

 vation, especially as to the effect on quality of different methods of 

 storage. These have been so made and handled that both the manu- 

 facturing data and the chemical history are on record, and will 

 furnish indisputable testimony as to what can be made from the 

 fruits used. 



The systematic collection and examination of the commercial wines 

 and ciders of the eastern United States has been carried forward as 

 rapidly as the conditions would permit. This work must of neces- 

 sity give place to the investigations on the fruit crop and the manu- 

 facture of samples therefrom in season, but it is now approaching a 

 state of completion when a large amount of data will be available. 

 The past year 133 samples of these beverages have been examined, 

 and a considerable stock is still awaiting attention. Previous work 

 on commercial wines included 183 samples; thus data on 316 samples 

 have been accumulated. 



The total number of samples examined at the Charlottesville lab- 

 oratory during the fiscal year was 597, or about 5,000 determinations, 

 on fruit samples and by-products. Thus the total number of samples 

 handled in the two laboratories reached 1,674, and the determinations 

 made during the fiscal year exceeded 13,000. 



