10 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



(2) To fiirtlier investigate the problem of the chemical composition of 

 a soil witli refereuce to its fertility. 



(3) To collect and compare the different methods in use for soil analy- 

 sis with the design of unifying them as much as possible, in proposing 

 a method which might seem best adapted to general use. 



(4) To put in form for general use ])oints in connection with soil analy- 

 sis concerning which frequent inquiries are addressed to the Depart- 

 ment, to answer which in detail would be quite impracticable. 



The results of the work are now in manuscript and are ready for 

 publication. 



INVESTIGATION OF CKUEALS. 



The work of the division of chemistry during 1883 and 1884, in inves- 

 tigating the influence of climate and soil in the composition of cereals, 

 has been continued with good results. The cereals examined have been 

 wheat, oats, and corn. One of the chief objects of research with wheat 

 and oats has been to trace the effect of climate and soil on the albumi- 

 noids of grain. Those cereals are generally more highly* valued as the 

 percentage of the albuminous contents increases. 



The size and weight of the grains have also been carefully deter- 

 mined. The investigations have now proceeded far enough to deter- 

 mine what parts of the country produce the best cereals, without re- 

 spect, however, to the quantity produced. 



The results of the work are being rapidly collated and will soon be 

 ready for publication. 



EXPERIMENTS IN THE M.V^'UFACTURE OF SUGAR. 



Sugar planters have long beeu aware that a large j)ercentage of the 

 sugar produced was lost either in milling or in the processes of man- 

 ufacture. It is scarcely extravagant to say that during the last decade 

 fully half of the sugar the soil has produced has beeu lost before the 

 manufactured article has entered commerce. It was with the purpose 

 of checking this waste that the Department undertook the experiments 

 mentioned. 



To avoid the loss in milling it was determined to try the process of 

 diffusion. For this purpose apparatus was erected in Kansas for cutting 

 sorghum cane into thin slices and extiacting the sugar therefrom in a 

 diffusion battery consisting of ten cells. The result of the experiment 

 was highly gratifying. The degree of extraction was fully 98 per cent, 

 of the total sugars present. Mechanical difficulties in the form of the 

 apparatus which could not have been foreseen interfered, somewhat, with 

 the successful working of the process economically, but these difficulties 

 are readily overcome. 



To avoid the loss incident to the usual process of manufacture, the 

 process known in the beet sugar industry as carbonatation was tried, 

 and its results were entirely satisfactory. 



