' thus arranged, the central factory will, in addition to its own regular 
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LETTERS PATENT GRANTED TO M. SWENSON. Fit 
ak 
UNITED StatES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, pert” 
COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE, ae 
Washington, D. C., December 10, 1887, E 
Str: In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 7th instant, __ 
directing me to inform the Senate whether any person in the employ 
_of this Department has applied for or obtained a patent on any pro- —~ 
cess connected with certain experiments in the manufacture of sugar 
‘from sorghum, conducted under the auspices of the Government, I 
have the honor to make the following statement of facts: ¢ Ne 
For the fiscal year 1886-87 Congress made an appropriation of 
$94,000 for ‘“‘continuing and concluding experiments in the man- 
ufacture of sugar by the diffusion and saturation process, from sor- 
ghum and sugar-cane,” By virtue of this appropriation the Com-. | 
missioner appointed, under date of July 19, 1886, Mr. Magnus Swen- 
son ‘‘anagent of this Department to superintend, under the direction ~ 
of the Chemist, the experiments in the manufacture of sugar from 
sorghum at Fort Scott, Kans.” tae 
In his report to me, under date of December 21, 1886, Professor + 
Wiley, the Chief Chemist of this Department, in detailing the exper- _ 
iments above alluded to, stated that an acidity existed in the diffusion 
bath, causing a conversion of a portion of sucrose (sugar) into glucose, 
and that several experiments had been made to correct this acidity. — 
Among those experiments was one in which he added ‘‘freshly pre- | 
cipitated carbonate of lime to the extraction bottle,” a method whic 
he states was suggested by Professor Swenson, At theclose of these © 
experiments, November 15, 1886, Mr, Swenson’s service ceased. On* *~ 
Apri 27, 1887, he was again appointed ‘‘superintendent of sugarex- ~~ 
eriments at Fort Scott, Kans.,” which position he now holds, On 
October 21, 1887, I was informed that Professor Swenson was seeking. ~ 
a patent for the process which he had suggested as above stated, and 
while in the line of his duty, and which had been tried in a public 
experiment with the people’s money and for the benefit of the country. 
On that date I filed with the Commissioner of Patents my protest 
against any action on the part of his office by which Professor Swen- 
son, as an individual, should reap the benefit of this experiment. In — 
answer to that letter I received a communication from the Commis- — 
sioner of Patents, under date of October 26, stating that Professor ~~ 
Swenson had been allowed letters patent on the process, under date 
‘ 
