H—44A

Government Office Furniture. —A Government Office Furniture Committee wasinstituted during the year to develop a standard specification for departmental office furniture, with the object of ensuring that the most suitable and convenient furniture, from the point of view of efficient administration and the comfort and well-being of staff, would be manufactured at least cost. Sound progress has been made with the formulation of this specification, which will include provisions relating to tables, desks,, chairs, cabinets, card-index cabinets, and other furniture for administrative purposes. The constructional requirements contained in the household furniture specification will be cited in the departmental furniture specification, and will thus be related to the types of furniture defined and stipulated in the latter specification. PRIMARY INDUSTRIES Dairy Products and Requisites Committee .. .. .. One meeting. Reductase Test Panel .. . . .. .. .. One meeting. Milking-machine Executive Committee . . .. . . One meeting. Produce Sacks Committee .. .. . . .. .. One meeting. Second-hand Sacks Committee . . .. .. .. One meeting. Cow-covers Committee . . . . .. . . .. One meeting. Dairy Products and Requisites.—After being in recess during the war years, the Dairy Products and Requisites Committee has now resumed activity in collaboration with the corresponding committees of the British Standards Institution. By a special arrangement, the corresponding committees in the two countries work in the closest collaboration with the object of producing a uniform set of standards for dairy products and requisites throughout the Empire. The importance of this work can be fully appreciated from the fact that the projects being developed cover materials and equipment used in the manufacture of dairy products and the methods of test employed to determine the quality of these products. The work of the committee is therefore of vital importance to the maintenance of quality in the dairy industry, upon which the welfare of the country so substantially depends. The committee, during the year, examined 7 New Zealand standard specifications, 1 British standard, 2 draft British standards, 1 Australian standard, and 1 South African standard. In addition, it has resumed the development of several original New Zealand standard specifications which were under consideration when the committee went into recess. The projects at present receiving the attention of the committee are as follows : Methods and Apparatus for the Babcock and Gerber Tests. Protected Type Dairy Thermometers. Detergents for use in the Dairy Industry. Methods for the Chemical Analysis of Cheese and Butter. Methods for Testing the Coagulating Strength of Rennet. Method for the Reductase Test. Methods for the Sampling and Analysis of Casein. Methods for the Microbiological Examination of Butter. Methods for the Estimation of Acidity in Cream, Milk, and Whey. Specifications for Cheese-cloth, Butter Muslin, Cheese-bandages, Cheese-caps,, and Butter Parchment. Produce Sacks.—The standard specification for produce sacks was reviewed.and amended to provide for a larger sack for the packing of light produce. The revised standard specification stipulates a 46 in. by 23 in. sack for packing grain and other produce weighing more that 45 lb. to the bushel, and a 48 in. by 26£ in. sack for the packing of produce weighing 45 lb. or less to the bushel. This standard specification has been prepared in close collaboration with representatives of organizations representing the interests of farmers, transport workers, flour-millers, grain and seed merchants, and other interested parties. By establishing requirements which will ensure that loaded sacks can be handled without imposing undue strain on farmers, workers, and others called upon to handle them, while at the same time avoiding the

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