102 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



commissioned to go into the wine districts of southern France for the 

 purpose of studying particularly the methods of vinification employed 

 and to ascertain whether or not any adulterations were practiced. A 

 valuable report of the observations of this special agent is almost 

 ready for publication. 



Another special agent of the Department was commissioned to study 

 the methods employed in cider making in England, France, and Ger- 

 many, with special reference to the influence of the different ferments 

 upon the chemical composition of the product. Large numbers of 

 samples of these ciders have been analyzed in the Division in Wash- 

 ington, and a report of the special agent, together with a report of the 

 chemical study, will soon be ready for publication. 



The practical information in these reports will be of the greatest 

 value to the wine and cider makers of our country in helping them to 

 secure a product from the ripened fruits of a high grade and a greater 

 market value than heretofore. In this way the chemical studies sup- 

 plement the practical work of the orchardist and viticulturist by tak- 

 ing their product after the ripening of the fruit and showing in what 

 way the best composition of the wines and ciders can be secured. 



COLLABORATIVE WORK WITH DIVISIONS OF THIS DEPARTMENT. 



In addition to the collaborative work mentioned above, the Division 

 conducted extensive investigations during the year in dairy products 

 for the Bureau of Animal Industry. For the Division of Vegetable 

 Physiology and Pathology an extensive series of analyses of wheats 

 used for the manufacture of flour employed in making macaroni was 

 undertaken and completed. This work was supplemented with a 

 chemical study of the macaronis themselves. All the data of these 

 cereal investigations have been transmitted to the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, and I believe will soon be published. 



COLLABORATIVE WORK WITH OTHER EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS. 



The collaborative work with other Executive Departments of the 

 Government continued during the year. 



TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 



In order to make the collaborative work more useful to the Treas- 

 ury, the chief of the Division of Chemistry was, with the consent of 

 the Secretary of Agriculture, appointed during the year by the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury as supervisor of sugar tests for the appraisers' 

 laboratories at Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. In connection 

 with this work a systematic check test of exchange samples of sugar 

 was carried on in the laboratory of the Division during the year. The 

 manual and clerical labor necessary to this work would be justly 

 charged to the account of the Treasury, but so far it has been given 

 by the Department of Agriculture without expense to the Treasury. 



This work is of the greatest importance on account of the fact that 

 the levying of duties on imported sugars is determined wholly, with 

 the exception of high-grade white sugars, by the polariscopic test. 

 The importance of having this correct and uniform is, therefore, at 

 once apparent. The results obtained in the laboratory of the Division, 

 with those secured in the various laboratories of the appraisers above 

 mentioned, are compared monthly, and if any notable discrepancy is 



