DATA FURNISHED BY WAREHOUSEMEN. 11 



inaugurated relating to -all of these organoleptic properties. Juries 

 were constituted to examine food products when they were placed in 

 cold storage, and at stated intervals thereafter, for the purpose of 

 determining the character of the changes which may have taken place 

 in these properties. 



Sufficient progress has now been made in the work to clearly out- 

 line the exact nature of the problems which are presented, and to war- 

 rant the publication of the preliminary report. The problem, how- 

 ever, is one of such magnitude, and one which requires so great a 

 length of time to study all of the conditions which have to be taken 

 into consideration, that it can only be said at the present moment 

 that the work has been fully inaugurated and many of the difficulties 

 which at first presented themselves have been surmounted. A rec- 

 ord of about two years of continued investigation has disclosed a suf- 

 ficient number of valuable data to warrant their publication, not for 

 the purpose of drawing a final conclusion respecting all the questions 

 which have been raised, but rather for placing the matter in such a 

 light as to clearly indicate the character and magnitude of the work 

 still to be done. 



INFORMATION FURNISHED BY COLD-STORAGE WAREHOUSEMEN. 



As was stated in giving the plan of the investigation, a letter asking 

 for the cooperation of the cold-storage warehousemen was sent out, 

 together with a form covering the points in regard to which informa- 

 tion was desired. The response was most satisfactory, showing every 

 indication on the part of the trade to cooperate in the investigation, 

 and the correspondence in condensed form is submitted as containing 

 valuable material for comparison and study. The letter sent out 

 by the Department read as follows: 



August 15, 1904. 



Gentlemen: An act of Congress making appropriations for the Department of Agri- 

 culture, approved April 23, 1904, authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture "to investi- 

 gate the effect of cold storage upon the healthf ulness of foods. ' ' This is an investiga- 

 tion in which the producers of foods, those who keep them in cold storage, and those 

 who finally consume them are all equally interested. 



The wholesomeness of foods is a condition which depends on a number of factors, 

 such as soundness, freedom from products of decay, proper balance of food elements, 

 palatability, etc. 



It is well known that cold storage, at a proper temperature, improves certain food 

 products up to a certain point. Such is the case with fresh meat, poultry, fruits, etc. 

 There are other food products which it is well known are not improved by keeping 

 in cold storage at any temperature, such as fish, oysters, eggs, etc. The exigencies of 

 transportation and market conditions, however, often require that such food be kept 

 for a time before consumption, and cold storage offers the best means of protection in 

 such cases. It is important to know how long bodies of this kind can be kept in cold 

 storage without materially lessening their value as food or impairing to any appreciable 

 extent their wholesomeness. For bodies of the first class, which are improved upon 

 keeping, there must be some definite period of storage which develops their maximum 

 qualities, both of palatability and wholesomeness. 



