66a EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



(d) Digestion experiments with horses have been begun. As 

 this is a new line of work at this station, considerable time has 

 been required to construct satisfactory equipment for collecting 

 the feces and urine. Observations will be carried on during the 

 spring, summer and autumn as to the most satisfactory rations 

 for work horses. 



(e) Dr. Holland and Mr. Buckley have continued their 

 studies in the chemistry of butter fat. An article on the de- 

 termination of stearic acid in the insoluble acids of fats has 

 been pubHshed in the "Journal of Agricultural Research," *and 

 a general revision of the usual group methods of fat analysis 

 published as Bulletin No. 166 of this station. 



(/) The analytical work relative to the stability test with 

 olive oil has been completed, but a report has not as yet been 

 prepared for publication. 



(g) During the past year considerable progress has been 

 made in perfecting a method for the determination of caproic, 

 caprylic, capric, lauric and myristic acids in butter fat. The 

 process consists essentially of four distinct steps : — 



(1) Esterification of the fat. 



(2) Purification of the esters. 



(3) Fractional distillation. 



(4) Analysis of the resulting fractions. 



Numerous difficulties were encountered in the first three 

 phases, but they are gradually being eliminated and more 

 satisfactory results secured. 



(h) The widespread use of lime-sulfur solutions by the horti- 

 culturists of the State, and the demand for an immediate report 

 on samples sent for examination, necessitated considerable 

 study on methods of analysis in order to enable us to advise 

 promptly as to the quality of the submitted products. 



Mr. Morse reports concerning his investigations: — 



The asparagus investigations which have been conducted for 

 several years have been compiled and put into a bulletin which 

 is in press. During the season of asparagus cutting last spring 

 several series of samples were prepared for the purpose of deter- 

 mining the rate of change in asparagus during the period which 

 elapses between cutting and cooking. The samples were ana- 

 lyzed just before the close of the yegir. The results indicate 



