86 ANNtTAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



mg value of forage crops and the composition of grains and cereals, 

 form the fundamental part of the work of the laboratory charged 

 with this subject. Of the 891 samples examined, however, 500 were 

 interstate samples of cattle or poultry foods, and 76 of these were 

 found to be adulterated or misbranded. 



SUGAR AND SUGAR PRODUCTS. 



The investigation of maple products begun two years ago is near- 

 ing completion, the season for the work being so short that the yearly 

 results obtained at the camps are necessarily limited. A mass of 

 analytical data has been determined on samples collected in different 

 parts of the country and manufactured under varying conditions. 

 The data on maple sap sirup have been published as Bureau of 

 Chemistry Bulletin 134, and those on maple sugar and maple-sugar 

 sirup are being compiled. Numerous practical problems attending 

 the collection of the sap and the manufacturing processes are being 

 studied, notably the effect of souring of the sap and of the use of 

 different materials for sap containers and evaporators on the final 

 product. 



The studies of the effect of environment on the composition of 

 sugar-bearing plants was extended to include m.uskmelons. the work 

 being conducted in eight different States, representing widely dif- 

 fering climatic conditions, from Florida to Connecticut and from 

 Arizona to New Jersey. Valuable results, such as were obtained in 

 the five-year experiments on sweet corn and sugar beets, are expected, 

 but no conclusions can be based on one year's work. 



Miscellaneous sugar investigations include work on the moisture 

 content of Louisiana cane sirup and molasses, the adaptation of 

 methods of analysis of sugar beets to commercial needs, the chemical 

 examination of imported honeys, and the analysis of American 

 glucose and starch sugars. 



PLANT PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. 



The influence of environment on the chemical composition of vari- 

 ous cereals, such as wheat, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, etc., is 

 studied in analyzing the crops grown in different localities during 

 a number of seasons and in comparing the data on composition thus 

 obtained. Thousands of such analyses have been made, and a re- 

 port is in progress. Wheat is also grown under varying conditions 

 of sun and shade, and plants grown in the Great Plains area are 

 examined to determine the effect on composition of different methods 

 of handling the crop, especially the influence of rotation on produc- 

 tion. The composition of different varieties of barley grown in 



