27 



MISCELLANEOUS WORK. 



Fifty samples of soil have been turned in to the laboratory, sent 

 either l)y piivate individuals or collected by members of the sta- 

 tion start' in various parts of the islands. Fifteen of these samples 

 ha\ e been examined and reported on. In a number of cases the 

 samples were of such a character or the data su^jplied were so meager 

 that time spent on tiiem would have been wasted. In such cases 

 fui'ther information and reliable samples have been sought. Twenty 

 samples of those on liand will be examined as rapidly as the facilities 

 of the laboratory will permit. The soils examined include those 

 devoted to tobacco, bananas, and cacao on Hawaii and pineapples on 

 Oahu. The official method, digestion with hydrochloric acid, specific 

 gravity 1.115, has been used throughout, and in giving advice based 

 on these analyses due regard has been given the various factors 

 bearing on this matter noted in the last report. 



Three samples of honey, marked, respectively, grades 1, 2, and 3, 

 were submitted by a local producer with the statement that the price 

 obtained had not been as good as expected, and asking if analj'sis 

 would show any diH^erence in the samples or anything to justif}^ the 

 buyer's objection to the quality. Analysis showed almost the same 

 composition, except in moisture content, the figures being as follows: 

 No. 1, 15.7l> per cent; No. '2, 17.34 per cent; and No. 3, 18.70 per cent. 

 It was learned after reporting as above that the buyer objected to the 

 amount of water in the lower grades, and it was suggested that this 

 was due to uncapped or partially capped unripe honev being included 

 in those grades. 



The manager of a local cannery making guava jelly reported that 

 a portion of the season's output was unsalable, owing to the more or 

 less liquid condition of the article, and that in the same lot some jars 

 were of good quality and others made in the same way were defective. 

 Samples were submitted, but analvsis did not disclose any reason for 

 this behavior. It was evident that a remedy for this trouble could be 

 arrived at only by a study of the composition of guavas at different 

 stages of ripeness, as well as a study of the method of manufacture in 

 the cannery. This, so far, it has not been possible to do. 



Samples of wattle bark {Acacia decurrens) were examined for per- 

 centage of tannin, and this found to vary from 29 to 35 per cent on 

 the weight of the air-dried bark. These were samples of bark har- 

 vested and shipped from the station during the year. Two samples 

 of koa bark {Acacia koa) were also examined for tannin content and 

 found to contain 12.69 and 17.51 per cent. These samples were 

 obtained from Hawaii. 



The Hawaiian Fiber Company submitted samples of the waste wash 

 water from the sisal cleaning machine, with the request that if pos- 



