44 a EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HORTI- 

 CULTURAL MANUFACTURES. 



W. W. CHENOWETH. 



This department has but recently been organized, and be- 

 cause of crowded conditions in the laboratory, meager equip- 

 ment and lack of efficient research assistants, the investigations 

 carried on thus far are only preliminary to larger things to be 

 taken up later. However, much valuable work has been done 

 along the following lines: — 



Jelly Making. — This is being studied from the standpoint 

 of economic production. Results show that by proper handling 

 of the fruit the yield may be increased two to three times the 

 amount generally obtained by household methods; also that 

 jelly of highest quality is produced where the amount of sugar 

 is reduced to one-half or less than one-half the amount generally 

 used. This fact has been of tremendous importance in recent 

 years because of the sugar shortage. 



The Economic Values of Varieties of Fruits for Manufacturing 

 Purposes. — These investigations include both the small fruits 

 and tree fruits. There is no doubt that varieties of fruit vary 

 in their natural adaptability for canning and for the manu- 

 facturing of many fruit products. 



Fruit Juices. — The manufacture and preservation of fruit 

 juices for beverage purposes is an interesting and important 

 problem. Many thousands of dollars worth of fruits are 

 wasted annually in Massachusetts while our markets are sup- 

 plied with fruit juices from the fruit plantations of the West. 

 The work here also includes studies of improved methods in 

 the home manufacture of vinegar. 



Canning. — Study is being made of those factors that influ- 



