106 



ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



as inks and insect and rodent exterminators intended for use in or 

 around official establishments were also examined, and permission for 

 their use was based upon the results of such examinations. 



Samples to the number of 55,423 were analyzed, of which 54,681 

 were domestic and 742 imported products. This represents an in- 

 crease of approximately 20,000. Eighteen hundred and forty-four 

 samples were found not to be in accordance with the regulations. 

 Water supplies from 433 sources were examined, 53 of which were 

 condemned for use in the preparation of meat products. 



The scarcity of saltpeter has necessitated the use of Chile salt- 

 peter (sodium nitrate) as a substitute in the curing of meats. Since 

 borax commonly occurs as an impurity in crude Chile saltpeter, con- 

 siderable attention was given to the sampling and examining of 

 samples of this material. A large number of samples of this sort 

 were found to contain borax and were rejected for use in the curing 

 of meats. 



Very few samples of meat food products were found to contain 

 prohibited preservatives that had been intentionally added. In 

 cases where preservatives were encountered their presence was 

 usually found to have been due to the use of a curing mixture contain- 

 ing the preservative as an impurity. The most apparent violations 

 of the regulations as disclosed by the examination of samples of 

 meat food products consisted in improper labeling, while the more 

 common causes of condemnation of fats and oils were rancidity and 

 acidity. The examination of spices, condiments, and gelatins showed 

 that great improvement has been made in the quality of these mate- 

 rials. 



FIELD INSPECTION DIVISION. 



R. A. Ramsay, Chief. 



The work of eradicating foot-and-mouth disease, already reported, 

 was carried out mostly through this division. 



ERADICATION OF SOUTHERN CATTLE TICKS. 



As the result of the work done in cooperation with authorities of 

 various Southern States for the extermination of the ticks which 

 spread the infection of splenetic fever in cattle, areas aggregating 

 31,358 square miles, as shown by the following table, were released 

 from quarantine during the fiscal year. The total area released since 

 the beginning of this work in 1906 amounts to 284,521 square miles, 

 being a territory greater in size than the combined areas of Ten- 

 nessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. 

 The work is also far advanced in a large additional territory. 



Areas released from splenetic-fever quarantine as a result of eradicating cattle 



ticks, fiscal year 1916. 



State. 



Alabama. . 

 Arkansas . . 

 Florida . . . 

 Georgia . . . 

 Louisiana . 

 Mississippi 



Square 

 miles. 



6,742 

 1,672 

 3, 800 



4,822 



420 



4,291 



State. 



North Carolina 

 South Carolina 



Texas 



Virginia 



Total... 



Square 

 miles. 



2,720 



5, 457 



1,387 



47 



31,358 



