BLEACHIN© ©F ©ATS WITH SULPHUR DIOXID. 7 
sumer not be aware of th© fact. Seed men generally buy their oats 
under contracts stipulating that such oats shall germinate not less 
than a specific percentage, and further that they shall not be sulphur 
bleached. This provision, of course, safeguards the farmer when he 
buys oats from a seedsman who states that such oats are suitable for 
seed. However, as at present there is no general regulation govern- 
ing oat handling in intrastate transactions which requires that 
sulphured oats are to be labeled as such, the farmer generally is 
without protection and often sows oats that have been sulphured 
because he has no knowledge of such condition. Some growers are 
not acquainted with the sulphur 7 bleaching process, and do not know 
that this process injures the germination. 
In the column headed " Sulphur reaction" are shown the results 
of a qualitative determination, indicating whether the oats in question 
had been sulphured or not. 1 In the column above referred to four 
designations are shown, namely: None, Slight, Medium, and Heavy, 
which indicate whether or not the oats have been sulphured, and if 
so, approximately to what degree. The moisture percentages will 
be found to vary considerably in the samples before and after sulphur- 
ing, according to the particular kind of method used. The weight per 
bushel, while not influenced materially, is found to be a little higher 
in, most instances after sulphuring. 
In the column headed "Oats appearing sound," it will be noticed 
that the percentage of such oats is increased considerably by bleach- 
ing, and in the column headed "Total oats appearing damaged/' 
it is noticed that' there is a corresponding decrease. In the column 
headed "Oats damaged by agencies other than heat," it is shown 
that in the sulphured samples the damage appears much less. In the 
last column, headed "Heat damaged oats," it is seen that while the 
percentage of heat damage in many instances is small, there is a 
corresponding reduction in this factor by the bleaching process. 
By examining the table in detail, it is noted that the facts set forth 
in each set compare favorably with those in each of the other sets. 
In samples Nos. 88783 and 88830 it is shown that the total amount of 
oats appearing heat damaged was reduced from 54.8 to 31.4 per cent, 
a reduction of 23.4 per cent. In samples Nos. 89242 and 89245, 
however, it is seen that the total amount of oats appearing bin burned 
before sulphuring was 62 per cent while those appearing bin burned 
after sulphuring was 64.6 per cent. 
i This method is given in detail in Circular 40, Bureau of Plant Industry, TJ. S. Department of Agri- 
culture: "A Simple Method of Detecting Sulphured Barley and Oats," by W. P. Carroll, 1909; and in 
Circular 111, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture: "Improved Apparatus for 
Use in Detecting Sulphured Grain," by George H. Baston r '91£- 
