EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 69 



and Exhibition at Surabaya, Java, held in July, 1911. The Fiber 

 Congress itself was the first international gathering that has been 

 held for the general discussion of the production of plant fibers. The 

 subjects were ably discussed by men who for the most part are actually 

 engaged in operating fiber plantations and who therefore have an 

 intimate knowledge of the many problems met with in the industry 

 and also the many practical ways in which these problems are solved. 



GRAIN STANDARDIZATION. 



The results of the grain-standardization investigations pertaining 

 to the methods of harvesting, handling, transporting, storing, and 

 grading grain have been of unusual interest and value during the 

 year. In this work special attention has been given to the methods 

 of handling grain on the farm, in elevators and warehouses, and by 

 transportation companies, including a study of the changes which 

 take place in grain while in storage or during transit in cars or 

 steamships, together with a study of the relative value of the factors 

 taken into consideration by grain dealers and the manufacturers of 

 grain products in fixing values and grades of commercial grain. 

 These investigations have likewise included some preliminary work 

 in the rice fields of Louisiana and Texas on the methods of handling 

 and grading rough rice, with a view of reducing the immense losses 

 now experienced in handling this important crop. 

 I Continued investigations during the year have fully confirmed the 

 conclusions originally drawn that moisture is the most dangerous 

 factor in the handling of commercial grain. Extensive experiments 

 made to determine the natural shrinkage of grain when handled in 

 elevators or warehouses or while in transit in cars have shown losses 

 in weight due to the evaporation of moisture ranging from one-tenth 

 of 1 per cent to more than 7 per cent. 



Detailed tests of more than 10,000 representative samples have 

 shown that a very high percentage of the 1911 crop of corn contained 

 more than 20 per cent of water at the time of marketing, thus em- 

 phasizing the urgent need of better methods of handling grain on the 

 farm and of growing types of corn that will mature sufficiently early 

 to permit the grain to be marketed in a dry, sound, and more satis- 

 factory condition. The degree of deterioration in corn alone, due 

 primarily to excessive moisture, results in a loss equivalent to more 

 than a million dollars annually, much of the corn handled commer- 

 cially becoming musty, sour, hot, and badly damaged. 



During the latter part of the year an informal invitation was 

 extended to grain exporters and representatives of railroad and 

 steamship companies interested in the handling of export grain to 

 participate in an informal conference at the department for the 



