148 DEPAETMENTAL REPORTS. 



order to insure the accuracy of the instruments in use. When it is 

 considered that the duties on imported sugars amount in round num- 

 bers to $60,000,000 annually, and that these duties are laid in accord- 

 ance with the polarizations of the sugar imported, the importance of 

 securing a rigid and accurate control of the processes is at once 

 apparent. 



Many other problems connected with the collection of duties have 

 been referred by the Treasury Department to this Bureau during the 

 past year. One of the most important of these investigations relates 

 to the rate of duty which is levied upon imported pineapples preserved 

 in cans. The law requires a certain rate of duty to be collected on 

 imports of this kind when the pineapples are preserved in their own 

 juice and a different rate of duty if sugar be added in the process of 

 preserving. A difference of opinion having arisen between the 

 appraisers and importers in regard to this matter, the solution of the 

 difficulty by mutual consent has been left to this Bureau. In order 

 to reach a conclusion large numbers of analyses of imported products, 

 as well as of the original pines, have been necessary. This work was 

 only partially completed at the end of the fiscal year, but will be 

 brought to completion during the present fiscal year. 



The question of the exclusion of certain articles of food which may 

 contain injurious products has also been referred in several instances 

 to this Bureau by the Treasury Department since, under the existing 

 laws, such exclusion is secured only on certification from the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture to the Secretary of the Treasury that the articles 

 in question are injurious. Investigations have been carried on dur- 

 ing the past year relative to some of the principal preservatives, and 

 as a result of these investigations certain regulations have been for- 

 mulated by the Secretary of the Treasury respecting the use of sulphur 

 on fruit products preliminary to desiccation, preservation, and ship- 

 ment. Under these regulations, when their details are carried into 

 effect, the wholesomeness of the imported articles is not impaired, 

 while their appearance is rendered more agreeable by the previous 

 application of fumes of burning sulphur. Since the process of sul- 

 phuration, wiiich is the application of fumes of burning sulphur to 

 fi-uits previous to desiccation or preservation, is practiced generally 

 throughout the world and since when properly conducted no injurious 

 effects are produced upon the product, it is hoped that the policy 

 established by this Government in relation to such products will be 

 adopted by other nations. Some American fruit products have been 

 subjected to restriction or exclusion in foreign countries by reason of 

 alleged application of sulphur in the manner described, and we 

 believe that these restrictions and exclusions do not rest upon justi- 

 fiable grounds. 



PROPOSED WORK FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1903. 



The work outlined in the above report for the laboratories men- 

 tioned, and which has already received the approval of the Secretary, 

 will be continued during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, as 

 follows : ^ 



FOOD LABORATORY. 



During the present fiscal year the Avork described in the first part 

 of this report with olive oil, pineapples, tropical fruits and their man- 

 ufactured products, the ripening of fruits, and the manufacture of 



