LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 



Bureau of Chemistry, 

 Washington, D. C, May 25, 1911. 

 Sir: I have the honor to submit for your approval a report of 

 experiments on the treatment of Japanese persimmons to render 

 them nonastringent, which have been conducted in this bureau by 

 Mr. H. C. Gore, of the Division of Foods, during the past four years. 

 During the progress of this investigation Mr. Gore has had the con- 

 tinuous cooperation of Mr. William A. Taylor and Mr. David Fair- 

 child, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, who have selected the fruits 

 to be tested and suggested the lines along which the work should 

 be conducted in order to be of the most direct interest to persimmon 

 growers. Explicit directions for processing under commercial con- 

 ditions can not, however, be based on the laboratory work herein 

 reported, and the study is to be regarded only as preliminary. I 

 recommend that this manuscript be published as Bulletin 141 of the 

 Bureau of Chemistry, that the growers and others interested in the 

 industry may be informed of the tentative results of the investigation. 

 Respectfully, 



H. W. Wiley, 

 Chief of Bureau. 

 Hon. James Wilson, 



Secretary of Agriculture. 



