108 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



THE COMPOSITION OP SUGAR-PRODUCING PLANTS. 



The increasing interest in this country in the sugar industry ren- 

 ders it advisable to continue, somewhat more systematically, the 

 investigations which the Division of Chemistry has conducted during 

 the past quarter of a century on sugar-producing plants. The appro- 

 priation to be asked for will include the study of all sugar-producing 

 plants, viz, sorghum, sugar cane, and the sugar beet. The consump- 

 tion of sugar is rapidly increasing, and, even with the aid of our 

 insular possessions, we are still very far from supplying our own con- 

 sumption. There is, i^erhaps, no other one industry, the development 

 of which means so much to our agricultural interests, as that of our 

 domestic sugar supply. This can only be accomplished in conjunc- 

 tion with careful chemical studies of the plants themselves, the 

 changes which they suffer b}^ environment, and the foods which sup- 

 ply their growth. It is hoped that this branch of investigation in the 

 Bureau may include the following j)oints: 



(1) The collection of statistics relative to the sugar industry of the 

 United States and its possessions. 



(2) Investigations and collection of data concerning the adaptabil- 

 ity of various parts of the United States to beet and sugar-cane pro- 

 duction. 



(3) Collection of technical data relative to the foreign sugar 

 industry, for the purpose of keeping domestic producers advised of 

 new methods in manufacture, etc. 



(4) Publication, at regular intervals, of circulars including abstracts 

 of descriptions of new methods, processes, machinery, and of inves- 

 tigations appearing in foreign sugar journals. 



DENDRO-CHEMISTRY. 



The progress of the Bureau of Chemistry will be, perhaps, more pro- 

 nounced in the direction of dendro-chemistry than in any other one 

 line of investigation. It is proposed to undertake, in collaboration 

 with the Bureau of Forestry, investigations of the constitution of trees, 

 products of distillation of wood, manufacture of wood alcohol, wood 

 tar, acetone, and other products of the destructive distillation of wood; 

 investigation of tanning materials, manufacture of tanning extracts, 

 studies of distribution of resins and gums in wood, investigations 

 of the use of wood pulp for paper making, the manufacture of cellu- 

 lose, studies of the methods of preserving wood, and other chemical 

 and techno-chemical processes relating to forest products. 



CHEMISTRY OF DAIRY PRODUCTS. 



The investigation of the chemical composition of dairy products will 

 be continued, in collaboration with the Bureau of Animal Industiy, 

 and all proposed methods which have any promise of merit will be 

 investigated. By act of Congress, the exportei-s of food products wliich 

 are subjected to chemical and phj^sical tests in foreign countries have 

 a right to demand in tlie Bureau of Chemistry an analysis and cer- 

 tificate of the character of their goods before shipment. This work, 

 when funds are provided for it, will be a prominent feature of the 

 investigation. Tliei-e are many other chemical questions connected 

 with the composition of foods fed to dairy cows, and the effects pro- 



