216 ANNUAL EEPORTS OF DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In cooperation with the War Industries and Shipping Boards, 

 plans have been made to endeavor at several plants to recover chro- 

 mium from the waste chrome liquors. The procedures for the puri- 

 fication of tannery effluents advocated by the bureau are in successful 

 commercial practice. 



Extensive experiments on the effect of various treatments on upper 

 leathers, undertaken primarily for war purposes, will furnish in- 

 formation of value to both tanner and user of leather. In this con- 

 nection an accelerated aging test by exposure to ultra-violet light is 

 being tried. 



MILDEWPROOFING. 



Information on mildewproofing which has been gathered for some 

 years past for the benefit of farmers has proved of value to the 

 Quartermaster General. Several satisfactory formula have been de- 

 veloped, and several reliable methods for judging the mildew resist- 

 ance of treated fabrics devised. 



PAPER. 



Assistance has been rendered the Navy Department in securing sat- 

 isfactory blue and brown print paper, and a communication on "" Blue 

 and Brown Print Papers, Characteristic Tests and Specifications " 

 has been made. Eecommendations made to the General Supply Com- 

 mittee and other Government departments that lighter-weight blot- 

 ting paper be used have been adopted. The conditions prevailing 

 m the paper industrj^ have helped the propaganda which for some 

 years the bureau has been pushing to conserve paper-making mate- 

 rials through the use of lighter- weight papers. 



The description of a photometer for the measurement of the trans- 

 lucency of paper has been made public. 



CONTAINERS. 



At the request of the Navy Department, the development of a 

 water-resistant fiber shipping container, strong enough to substitute 

 for tbe wood canned-go(Jds shipping case, was attempted. Specifica- 

 tions for such containers were submitted to the Navy Department, 

 and adopted in all essential particulars by the Fiber Board Manufac- 

 turers' Associations and by the Food Administration. Inasmuch as 

 the usual paper-testing methods are not adequate for determining the 

 utility of fiber board for shipping containers, a new impact tester has 

 been developed for this purpose. 



The War Department has been assisted in securing a satisfactorily 

 wrapped bale for shipments overseas, and the specifications drawn 

 for baling paper have been adopted by the War Department. 



Because of a threatened shortage of tin plate, the possibility of 

 using various types of fiber containers for certain foodstuffs ordi- 

 narily packed in tin was considered. The difficulty of securing im- 

 portation of palm oil, considered essential for the manufacture of 

 tin plate, led to an investigation of the use of hydrogenated cotton- 

 seed oil as a substitute for palm oil. It has been shown that palm 

 oil is not essential for the production of tin plate. Cooperation with 



