326 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



per acre or per animal. State extension directors and State leaders 

 of county agents are using the results of this work to show the pur- 

 pose and value of county agent work when conferring with counties 

 which are considering the installation of a county agent. Teachers 

 of agriculture in the county high schools have been prompt to take 

 hold of farm management demonstration work. They are finding 

 that it fits in admirably with the agricultural work which they have 

 been teaching, and that high-school boys and girls of reasonable 

 maturity who are definitely connected with farms are able to take 

 part in such demonstrations to very good advantage. 



OFFICE OF HOME ECONOMICS. 



C. F. Langwohthy, Chief. 



During the year the Office of Home Economics carried on investi- 

 gations on food, clothing, household equipment, and household labor, 

 as well as some cooperative investigations on agricultural subjects 

 with other bureaus in which the respiration calorimeter equipment 

 of the office was particularly useful. 



As regards food, the experimental studies of the digestibility and 

 culinary uses of table fats were continued. Investigations on the 

 digestibility of animal fats, as well as of vegetable fats, were com- 

 pleted. A general summary of data on fats and their uses in the 

 home was also prepared for publication as a result of this work. In 

 general, the results obtained have shown that fats are very thoroughly 

 assimilated and that the differences in digestibility of the culinary 

 and table fats having the usual range of melting point are not 

 significant in the consideration of general dietary problems. 



The studies of the digestibility and uses in the home of grain 

 sorghums were completed and a report was prepared for publication 

 dealing with the digestibility and uses of milo maize, Kafir corn, 

 feterita, and kaoliang. The general conclusion is that of these grains 

 kaoliang is the least desirable for culinary purposes. The others, 

 from the standpoint of digestibility and flavor, are to be regarded 

 as useful additions to the diet. They are worth using for the sake 

 of economy in regions where they can be grown and in other regions 

 for the sake of variety. 



Studies of an emergency ration, carried on at the request of the 

 War Department, were continued with the result that a ration 

 thoroughly tested as to its digestibility, keeping quality, and other 

 requirements, has been recommended to the War Department and by 

 that department ordered manufactured in quantity for Army use. 

 It is believed that the results have justified the exhaustive work 

 which has been done on this problem. 



The studies regarding the preparation of food for the table in- 

 cluded particularly the use of fruits in combination for canning and 

 jelly making and ways of using fresh and home-canned fruits and 

 vegetables, the household methods of canning meat, and bread making 

 in the home, with special reference to the preparation of a bulletin 

 giving directions for the making of bread of different sorts. Studies 

 of the digestibility of very young veal and of hard palates of cattle, 

 undertaken at the request of the Bureau of Animal Industry, were 

 reported and published. 



