CORN. 



319 



Machines for both cutting and husking the corn at the same time have been invented, 

 but are not yet in general use. As soon as the stalks are thoroughly dry, the corn should be 

 husked and stored in dry bins or cribs, that are proof against rats and other vermin, and the 

 fodder put under cover or stacked at a convenient distance from the feeding-yards. Machines 

 for husking are a great saving of time and labor. 



Corn should not be shelled until perfectly dry. It will shrink in weight and measure 

 for several months after husking, this shrinkage being generally more in the cob than the 

 grain in proportion to the weight of the two, still there will- be considerable loss in the weight 

 of the grain from the time of harvesting until spring, even when comparatively ripe when 

 harvested. 



In order to have some reliable data in regard to the comparative weight of corn in the 

 fall and in the spring, which is an item of no little importance to the farmer and dealer in 

 corn, we give the following result of experiments made at the chemical laboratory of the Illin 

 ois Industrial University, under the supervision of M. A. Scovill, Professor of Agricultural 

 Chemistry. 



The experiments were made with the following six varieties of corn grown on the Uni 

 versity farm: Mammouth, Thomas, Murdock, Geneseo, Wright s Gold, and Cameron. 



In order to secure an average result ten ears of corn of each variety were employed. 

 The corn was gathered on October 6th, and carefully weighed. It was then properly labeled, 

 and the whole placed in a room, which was entirely cut off from any artificial source of heat. 

 On November 6th the corn was weighed, with the following results: 



Loss of weight of corn from Oct. 6th to Nov. 6th, in 100 parts. 



After weighing the corn, it was put back into the room as before, and allowed to remain 

 until Nov. 29th, when it was weighed again. 



Loss of weight of corn from Oct. 6th to Nov. 2Qth, in 100 parts. 



Finally the corn was allowed to remain in the room until February 28th, when it was 

 again weighed, with the following results : 



Loss of weight of corn from Oct. 6th to Feb. 28th, in 100 parts. 



By the last figures, it will be seen that the loss in weight from October 6th to Feb 

 ruary 28th by drying, was, on the average, a little more than twenty-one per cent., and that 

 the shrinkage was less during the last month of the experiment than the preceding. A simi 

 lar experiment in determining the amount of loss in bulk by shrinkage, and which extended 



