560 ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



been given to bleached flour with a view to determining methods for 

 tJie detection of bleaching agents other tfian nitrogen peroxid. The 

 salt content has been determined in a number of samples of water 

 in oyster beds. A study has been begun of the various lac prepara- 

 tions and the question of the application of lac to the glazing of candy. 

 Attention has been given to the manufacture of calcium acid phos- 

 phate intended for bakers' use, especially with a view to determining 

 the effect of added calcium sulphate in the process of baking, and it 

 has been determined that the presence of calcium sulphate increases 

 the amount of carbon dioxid evolved, hastens its evolution, and in- 

 creases the amount of insoluble residue by reason of the product 

 closely approaching tricalcium phosphate. 



Examination of Samples foe Other Departments. 



Several hundred samples of miscellaneous food products were 

 examined during the year for the Army, Navy, Panama Canal Com- 

 mission, the Insane Asylum of the District of Columbia, and espe- 

 cially for the General Supply Committee. 



WORK OF THE FOOD RESEARCH LABORATORY. 



The food research laboratory has continued its study of the han- 

 dling of perishable products, using poultry and eggs as the objects 

 on which to work out the fundamental principles of good handling. 

 The phases of the problem and the field of operations have been 

 broader than in preceding years. The main lines of investigation 

 have been (1) the study of the rate of deterioration in " wet-packed " 

 as compared with " dry-packed " poultry; (2) the effect of tempera- 

 ture during long railroad hauls on dressed poultry; (3) the effect of 

 the present methods of routine marketing in large cities on the rate 

 of deterioration in dressed poultry; (4) the effect of temperature on 

 the rate of deterioration in eggs during transportation and storage; 

 (5) the study of the changes in eggs produced by their environment; 

 and (6) the methods of handling eggs when removed from the shell 

 to be frozen or dried for preservation. All of these topics have been 

 approached from the practical as well as the scientific side, the field 

 work having been centered in New York City, Nashville, Tenn., and 



Omaha, Nebr. 



Field Station. 



The field station, which includes an excellently equipped laboratory 

 located in a poultry-packing house in Nashville, Tenn., for a little 

 more than the past fiscal year, has prepared, examined (bacteriologi- 

 cally and chemically), and shipped to the receiving station in New 

 York experimental packs on a commercial scale, to study the relative 

 keeping time of " wet-packed " and " dry-packed " and " well-bled " 

 and " badly-bled " poultry. The conditions maintained during the 

 haul in refrigerated carriers were followed by thermograph records, 

 and in a number of shipments by means of resistance thermometers 

 read at frequent intervals. 



Visits were made to 128 poultry-handling establishments in Ohio, 

 Indiana, Kentucky, tind Tennessee, where the general conditions of 

 the trade were discussed with the shippers with the object of improv- 

 ing their methods. As a result of the actual work performed in 



