BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 281 



AGRICULTURAL-TECHNOLOGY INVESTIGATIONS. 



The investigations of problems in agricultural technology, includ- 

 ing cotton grading and paper-plant investigations, have continued 

 under the direction of Dr. N. A. Cobb, assisted by Mr. Charles J. 

 Brand, in charge of paper-plant investigations; Mr. W. E. Chambers 

 and Mr. D, E. Earle, in cotton standardization; and by Dr. Albert 

 Mann in general technological and microscopic work. 



The appropriations made for the work conducted by the Office of 

 Agricultural Technology, together with the state of its several proj- 

 ects, have made it necessary to devote the greater part of its energies 

 to work connected with cotton standardization, paper-plant investi- 

 gations, and the plant-attacking nematodes. The growth of the 

 cotton work has necessitated the employment of additional expert 

 and clerical assistants, while the cotton and nematode work has 

 made it necessary to increase the force of laboratory aids from 

 three to nine within the year. The premises have been further fitted 

 for special work. All of the yard and area space has been roofed 

 and converted into available working and storage space. Addi- 

 tional machinery has been installed for both the paper and cotton 

 work, and the building formerly known as the denatured-alcohol 

 plant has been taken over from the Bureau of Chemistry for use as 

 storage space, for the installation of a cotton gin, and in preparation 

 for a portion of the paper-plant work. 



CoTTOx STANDARDIZATION. — Early in the year the preliminary dis- 

 tribution of the first sets of the official cotton grades for the purpose 

 of familiarizing the cotton industry with the nature of these types 

 was completed. Sets were placed with the principal cotton ex- 

 changes, with the members of the advisory committee, and with 

 textile schools and agricultural colleges. The general sale of the 

 grades was begun in September, since which time they have been 

 supplied to all applicants upon payment of $35. Seventy-nine sets 

 were sold within the year, and the present year opens with a notice- 

 ably quickening demand for these types. 



At the beginning of the year New Orleans was the only cotton 

 exchange which had formalW adopted the official grades as the 

 basis of its operations. Within the year similar action has been 

 taken by the exchanges at Memphis, Galveston, Mobile, Natchez, 

 Little Rock, St. Louis, Charleston, and Macon. Several exchanges 

 still have the question of the adoption of these grades under con- 

 sideration. The types are now distributed to 22 States and have won 

 the approval of all classes of people in the cotton industry as to the 

 manner of their preparation. 



A detailed card-record system has been devised which is designed 

 to show the complete history of each set of grades sent out by the 

 department. The geographical distribution is also recorded on skele- 

 ton maps. 



As the permanence of the original standard is all important to the 

 continued usefulness of the official grades, the work of preserving a 

 sufficient number of these types in vacuum storage to serve as stand- 

 ards for many years to come has been actively pushed. Fifty sets 

 have been most carefully prepared by our experts, assisted by ex- 

 perts from the New York and New Orleans exchanges, and the work 



