45 



coiiveitin^ tlic (U'<^ree.s of the r.L'iiiiliiig test to per cent of fut. The 

 results of comparativo deterininatioiis of the fat in samples of cream, 

 whole milk, Imttennilk, and skim milk by the Beimlinj,'-, Babcock, 

 Cochran, and Soxhlct methods, and the Adams uiavimctiic, method 

 are also stated. Comparing the Beimling and Babcock methods, the 

 former "gives somewhat higher residts in onr hands than does the 

 Babeock i)roeess and is moie rapid." The results by the Beinding 

 "compare very favorably with the results by the Adams method," and 

 "taking it all in all, we hold tiiis method of analysis of milk in very 

 high esteem." The results by the Babcock method, " while very uin- 

 form among themselves, ran ap[)re<;iably lower tiian analyses made by 

 the Adams method." This was especially true in the case of skim milk 

 or buttermilk. 



In the limited number of comi)arisons of the Cochran and Soxhiet 

 methods with the Adams, the results varied from those by the Adams 

 method by 0.2 per cent or over iu about half the cases, the diflerence 

 being in several cases over OA per cent of fat. 



IvEroiiT OF Botanist and MicKosconsT, C. F, MiLLsrAraii, M. 

 D. (i)p. 89-144, plates 4, figs. 17). — This includes brief statements 

 regarding the flora of West Viiginia ; notes on a tour of observation in 

 the State made by the author in the summer of 181)0 ; brief descri[)tivo 

 notes on sixty species of trees and shrubs growing on the cami)us of 

 West Virginia University; a list of the native trees and shrubs of the 

 State; a brief account of an ex[)eriment begun in ISIJO with several 

 varieties of Austrian basket osiers ; notes on the Canada thistle {Cnicus 

 ari'ensis), which were also published in Bulletin No. 10 of the station 

 (see Experiment Station Record, vol. il, p. 745); and a somewhat 

 detailed account of the processes and apparatus of photography in its 

 api)li('ation to station work. The report is illustrated with a map of West 

 Virginia, two plates showing the Canada thistle at different stages of 

 its growth, and numerous cuts exhibiting diftereut pieces of photo- 

 graphic apparatus. 



The boundary line of West Virginia has become a synonym for irregularity, the 

 truth of which a glance at the map accompanying this report will show. The topog- 

 raphy of the State might be comiirised also, suggesting as it does an immense held 

 over which a gigantic plow, drawn by a powerful grillin, which, goaded into frenzy 

 with the trident of its Plutonic follower, had left iu its erratic leaps and Hights a con- 

 fused maze of deep and irregular furrows. This topograjdiical condition is mainly 

 due to the great number of rapid-tlowing streams, which, rising in the higher nmnn- 

 tain ranges of the eastern and southern borders, pass in varied courses through the 

 State to augment the Ohio west and northwest and the Potomac in the northeast. 



Among the low as well as the loftier mountain ranges, there is comparatively little 

 table-land; and iu the valleys a like absence of extensive bottoms, except along 

 Tygart's Valley River iu Kandolpb County, the Great Kanawha, and the Ohio. The 

 absence of ponds and lakes is remarkable, not one to my knowledge existing within 

 the boundaries of the State. 



The predominating soil of the hills and valleys is clayey and sandy allnvium, stiff 

 clay, and loam, with some calcareous matter admixed in certain sections. The rocks 



