38 HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



Part I. — Outline of Year's Work. 



J. B. LINDSEY. 



A. CORKESPONDENCE. 



The correspondence of this department has considerably 

 increased over previous years, due to the execution of the 

 new feed law. The general character of the information 

 desired has been much the same as heretofore. The total 

 number of letters sent out during the year has been about 

 3,000. 



B. Extent of Chemical Work. 



The work in the laboratory has been of the same general 

 character as formerly. The number of determinations of 

 butter fat in cream has considerably increased. 



There have been sent in for examination 132 samples of 

 water, 229 of milk, 1,7(36 of cream, 8 of pure and process 

 butter and 170 of feed stuffs. In connection with experi- 

 ments by this and other divisions of the station, there have 

 been analyzed, in whole or in part, 235 samples of milk and 

 585 of fodders and feed stuffs. There have also been col- 

 lected and tested under the provision of the feed law 772 

 samples of concentrated feed stuffs. This makes a total of 

 3,897 substances analyzed during the year, as against 3,240 

 last year and 3,622 in the previous year. Work on mois- 

 ture, fiber and fat, and on the availability of organic nitrogen, 

 not included in the above, has been done for the Association 

 of Official Agricultural Chemists, and required considerable 

 time for its proper execution. In addition, 17 candidates 

 have been examined and given certificates to operate Babcock 

 machines, and 2,240 pieces of glassware have been tested 

 for accuracy, of which 57 pieces, or 2.54 per cent., were 

 condemned. 



