164 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY REPORT. 
The lines of chemical work were gradually extended, as new forms 
of investigation were undertaken. The general work of the chem- 
ical department during its first quarter century can be more ad- 
vantageously considered under specific lines and topics than by 
following a chronological order. 
LINES OF CHEMICAL WORK. 
The various lines of chemical activity which have been carried on 
at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station during the first 
twenty-five years of its existence may be grouped under the follow- 
ing heads: 
I. Milk and its products. 
2. Composition and digestibility of cattle foods. 
. Plant-food composition of vegetable and animal materials. 
. Soil fertility and crop production. 
Methods of analysis. 
Official analysis of commercial fertilizers. 
Official analysis of paris green. | 
. Manufacture of vinegar. 
Analysis of spraying materials. 
The special portions of work selected for consideration will be 
presented under the following divisions: 
1. Investigations relating to cheese. 
2. A comparative study of different breeds of dairy cows in rela- 
tion to the production of milk, cream, butter and cheese. 
. The proteins of butter in relation to mottled butter. 
. The inspection of commercial fertilizers. 
. Analyses of paris green and other insecticides. 
. Analysis of copper compounds used in spraying plants. 
The composition of commercial soaps in relation to spraying. 
The composition and production of sorghum and sugar-beets. 
. The chemistry of home-made cider-vinegar. 
. Methods of analysis. 
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Ont Ann HW 
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INVESTIGATIONS RELATING. TO. CHEESE. 
The work of the chemical department has been particularly identi- 
fied with the study of questions relating to cheese, both practical 
and scientific. The work began in 1891 and has been continued, 
with occasional interruptions, until the present. The object first 
in mind in undertaking the investigations was to extend our knowl- 
edge about the relations of milk to cheese, especially in relation to 
yield and quality. It was a matter of surprise how very little had 
