604 ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



making in vogiic in the principal cities of the country; (2) tlie study 

 of macaroni made from different products, inchiding the use of 

 coh)rini>- uuitters; and (3) a study of the chanocs in the nutritive 

 value of hay of various kinds when cured under ditFerent conditions. 



LEATHER AND PAPER LABORATORY. 



During the year 1912-13, besides continuing the routine testing 

 of supplies for the various dej^artments and serving as members of 

 committees for the passing on these supplies or the preparation of 

 specilications therefor, the laboratory force will conduct the follow- 

 ing investigations: Continuation of the investigations on tlie produc- 

 tion of wood turpentine and other products from the distillation of 

 wood, wnth special reference to the industrial value and relation to 

 health of wood turpentine ; practical experiments on the value of 

 various kinds of sole leather, treated in ditFerent ways, for the 

 purpose of determining the characteristics of a suitable and durable 

 sole leather and of devising laboratory methods for determining 

 those qualities; experiments on the tanning of leather, primarily 

 for the purpose of determining the proper procedure for the 

 production of a high-grade durable leather, that the raw mate- 

 rials (which are now entirely inadequate for the demands of the 

 nation) may be conserved and made to more nearly supply our 

 national need; the study of unusual paper-making materials; methods 

 of cooking stock and methods for the utilization and disposal of 

 paper-making wastes; investigations looking to the improvement of 

 the quality and quantity of rosin and methods for grading the same ; 

 testing of turj^entine and rosin for adulterants imder the food and 

 drugs act; and a study of analytical and testing methods for deter- 

 mining the purity and use value of materials within the province of 

 the laboratory. 



CONTRACTS LABORATORY. 



The work will be mainly the examination of miscellaneous mate- 

 rial purchased by the Government. Work will be continued on 

 paint and painting materials, and what is believed to be the most 

 carefully worked out series of white paint exposure tests that has 

 yet been started will be exposed on a fence constructed for the pur- 

 pose on the Arlington farm. This work is in cooperation with the 

 American Society for Testing Materials and the Bureau of Standards. 



Work will be done toward drawing up a standard specification 

 for copying ink on enamel-ware cooking utensils and on rubber and 

 platinum laboratory utensils. 



It is hoped that more standard specifications for various materials 

 can be adopted. Many materials, such as soaps, certain pigments and 

 oils, inks, etc., can be more advantageously bought on properly drawn 

 up specifications than on samples, but great difficulty is encountered 

 in inducing purchasing officers to follow this course. 



The work of the laboratory should be largely investigating methods 

 of testing rather than examination of such a large number of sam- 

 ples, and with a proper use of specifications it is probable that even 

 with the present force an appreciable fraction of the time could be 

 devoted to such work, while under the present system very little 

 systematic work of this kind is possible. 



