REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 87 



the same location for several years has been studied, and milling 

 and baking experiments are supplementing the chemical work done 

 to determine the comparative value of different wheats. The starch 

 content of different varieties of potatoes is determined with a view 

 to selecting the best varieties to be grown. These studies are made 

 in collaboration with the Bureau of Plant Industry. 



Important physiological studies have included experiments in 

 growing cereals, usually wheat, for a few weeks in water solutions 

 containing different plant foods, and, by the determination of their 

 composition and that of the residual solutions, arriving at impor- 

 tant data as to the physiological process of the young plant and its 

 needs. In the same way the effects of different conditions are ob- 

 served on the root formation of young plants, certain salts having 

 been observed to have a deleterious effect. 



The study of starches obtained from different plants, especially 

 with a view to obtaining a more complete extraction than at present, 

 an investigation of the graham flours on the market to determine 

 whether they are mixed or straight, and baking and chemical tests of 

 the availability of cottonseed meal, peanut meal, soy-bean meal, etc., 

 in bread making, are miscellaneous lines of work pursued in con- 

 nection with the other cereal studies. 



ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. 



The most important investigation along this line is perhaps the 

 collection and analysis of about 30 different brands of infants' foods, 

 supplemented by feeding experiments on small animals, using the 

 commercial formulas for preparing the foods and also certain modifi- 

 cations. The detailed data are being collated, and some of the results 

 already have been profitably used in charted form for the infor- 

 mation of societies interested in this problem, which is of great 

 importance in the conservation of public health. Other problems at- 

 tacked by work along these lines include the methods of determining 

 deterioration in meat and fish, a study of beef and yeast extracts of 

 known and unknown origin, and the determination of the solubility 

 in the digestive juices of the silver coatings used on candy. 



FOREST SERVICE. 



The notable features of the year have been the thoroughgoing at- 

 tention given to improving the organization of all activities, both 

 field and office, which has amounted to a complete overhauling of the 

 entire administrative mechanism; better application to the National 

 Forests of the fundamental administrative policy laid down for them 

 by Congress, through the development of a steadily higher quality 



