456 ANNUAL KEPOUTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the necessary data as to the grades of wine that may be produced in 

 that section and to vorifv or disprove claims made by the manufac- 

 turers, lieports have also been made bv ins^iectors, as the result of 

 extensive inquiry, concerning the conditions under which food prod- 

 ucts are kept in cold storage in the principal trade centers. 



The Avork begun the i:)revious fiscal year in connection with the 

 Sugar Laboratory was continued, samples of maple sugars and of 

 maple sirups being procured at the source of production in the maple 

 camps throughout Ohio, AVest Virginia, New York, and Vermont. 



Another inspection which Avas continued was that of the conditions 

 surrounding the soaking and floating of oysters and clams, and 

 wherever instances of violations of the law were discovered samples 

 were collected and shipments reported for seizure. 



The investigation of the bleaching of oats and barley with sulphur 

 fumes to improve the appearance of these cereals and the general 

 practice of adulteration of cattle foods, supplemented by the collection 

 of a great man}^ official samples in various States, was continued. 



The ins25ectors also cooperated in the concerted campaigns insti- 

 tuted to ascertain the character and quality of milk delivered in inter- 

 state shipments at Boston and Springfield, Mass., and at Cincinnati, 

 Ohio. 



At the request of certain packers of sardines along the Maine coast, 

 an investigation was undertaken for the purpose of ascertaining the 

 conditions under which these fish were canned, especially with regard 

 to the sanitary features. One of the results of the investigation thus 

 far has been to report shipments of old goods which were seized and 

 destroyed because of adulteration Avith tin salts. 



The varied character of the work performed by the inspectors is 

 illustrated by enumerating other investigations in which they cooper- 

 ated: The investigation of methods of manufacture and the collection 

 of authentic samples of essential oils; an inquiry in collaboration with 

 the Dairy Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry of the con- 

 densed-milk industry; an investigation to determine whether apples 

 grown and shipped from the States of Oregon and Washington were 

 misbranded in being labeled as the products of the Hood Eiver dis- 

 tricts ; an inquiry into the practice of the firms engaged in producing 

 salt in California and Utah and marketing it in imitation of well- 

 known brands of English salt; and in numerous other special investi- 

 gations which have been pursued at the request of state officials. 



WASHINGTON FOOD INSPECTION LABORATORY. 



The total number of samples examined in the "Washington Food 

 Inspection Laboratory during the year Avas 2,431, of which 790 were 

 check samples of import foods taken at the various branch labora- 

 tories, 205 were import food samples taken in connection with the 

 nonlaboratory port inspection in the Washington district, and 1,436 

 were samples of food of domestic origin. The preparation of the 

 cases arising from these examinations forms a large part of the work 

 of this laboratory, 1,000 cases having been prepared and submitted 

 to the board for consideration. 



The volume of work, both analytical and executive, handled in 

 this laboratory restricts the researches, but several important studies 

 have been made or supervised, notably the denatured alcohol investi- 



