AMERICAN EXPORT CORN ( MAIZE ) IN EUROPE. 19 



amount of moisture in the grain at the time of shipment. In other 

 cases the cargoes arrived cool, but the wheat contained hirge per- 

 centages of (himaged kernels caused by the wheat having been 

 heated before shipment. 



Other complaints of American wheat shipments brought to the 

 notice of the writers had relation to the relatively poor quality and 

 dirty condition of deliveries of No. 1 Northern Spring wheat; to 

 deliveries of semihard wheat, mixtures of soft and hard wheats, and 

 entirely soft red winter wheats upon hard winter wheat purchases; 

 to deliveries of <lamp, smutt}", and heat-damaged durum wheat upon 

 purchases of No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 Durum wheat; and to deliveries 

 of wheat containing considerable quantities of wild garlic on pur- 

 chases of No. 2 Soft Red Winter wheat. 



OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 

 FACTORS AFFECTING GENERAL CONDITIONS. 



THE MOISTURE CONTENT OF "nO. 2 CORN " AND "MIXED CORN." 



The rules and specifications defining the grades of ''No. 2 Corn" 

 and "Mixed Corn" (the latter being used almost exclusively by one 

 export market) of both the interior and export grain markets of the 

 United States definitely require that corn of those grades shall be 

 "sound" and "dry," and the addition of the terms "Sail Grade" or 

 "Prime Sail" are used upon the inspection certificates of some export 

 markets to emphasize the factor of dryness, yet the cool corn which 

 bore certificates of those grades and w^as examined in Europe con- 

 tained on arrival all the way from 12 to 20.6 per cent moisture. 



So far as these investigations have progressed, it is not thought 

 possible under ordinary conditions of ocean transportation for corn 

 or other grain, confined as it is in the holds of the ships, to take on 

 moisture from the air, as wdieat from semiarid regions is said to do 

 when otherwise transported to more humid regions, especially when 

 the moisture content of the grain as shipped is high. 

 • * 



HOW CHANGES IN MOISTURE CONTENT MAY TAKE PLACE ON BOARD SHIP. 



There are two means b}^ which the moisture content in any part 

 or the whole of a ship's corn cargo may be increased during transit: 

 (1) The transfer of moisture by air currents caused by changes in 

 temperature; and (2) by chemical changes within the corn kernel. 



As to the first means, corn containing excessive moisture and 

 situated so the moisture can escape when subjected to heat will give 

 off moisture and become drier. The moisture thus given ofT in a 

 ship's hold, in case the temjieratures in the hold are not uniform, 

 fijids its way to the usual air space above the corn and under the 



[Cir. 55] 



