410 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



ASH. 



The report on ash was read by the referee, G. S. Fraps. The work 

 during the past year was continued on lines previously followed, viz, 

 the methods of preparing the ash. The point to which special atten- 

 tion was given was whether sulphur or potash is driven off when the 

 substance is incinerated with calcium acetate in an open dish. Two 

 methods were tested for determining sulphur, one using calcium ace- 

 tate and the other being a modified nitric-acid method. From results 

 submitted the conclusion was reached that the calcium acetate method 

 does not give correct values for sulphur, although the results agree to 

 a certain extent, the loss being due to the escape of organic sulphur 

 compounds rather than to the volatilization of sulphates. The nitric- 

 acid method, with certain modifications proposed by the referee, gave 

 fairly satisfactory results. With potash the conclusion was reached 

 that the calcium acetate method does not give correct results when an 

 open dish is- used, and probably not in a closed dish. The following 

 recommendations were made: (1) That the title of this section be 

 changed from "Methods for the analysis of ashes" to "Methods for the 

 determination of inorganic plant constituents;" (2) that the modified 

 nitric-acid method for determining sulphur in plants be adopted as a 

 provisional one; (3) that the determination of chlorin be omitted until 

 a method can be devised which will give more accurate results; and (4) 

 that the determination of potash b}" ignition of the substances with sul- 

 phuric acid, as in the determination of potash in fertilizers, be adopted 

 as an alternate method. These recommendations were adopted, and 

 the referee was instructed to consider further the acetate method for 

 the determination of sulphur in plants. 



FOODS AND FEEDING STUFFS. 



The report on foods and feeding stuffs was read by the referee, W. H. 

 Krug. But little work was done along this line during the j'ear. The 

 results reported relate to the determination of moisture,, starch, pento- 

 san, and galactan. The recommendations of the referee dealt mainl}' 

 with minor changes, leading to more exact methods. It was recom,- 

 mended that the method used for drying sugars be adopted as optional 

 for the drying of feeding stuffs. With the phloroglucin method it was 

 recommended that instead of using 3 gm. of material a quantity of the 

 material be chosen so that the weight of the phloroglucin obtained shall 

 not exceed 0.3 gm. A number of other minor modifications of this 

 method were suggested. 



A paper on the determination of pentosan-free crude fiber was pre- 

 sented by G. S. Fraps. The result of a test of Konig's method, with 

 modifications, for determining pentosan-free crude filler was reported. 

 The method is found to be much shorter than the official one, the sub- 



