THE NEW EARTH 



those interested a wholesome vegetable oil. 

 The oil comes from the fat in the tiny germ of 

 the corn, and the larger the germ, the greater 

 the supply of oil. Quite a number of other 

 avenues are open to the corn-oil, and it appears 

 to be but at the beginning of its commercial 

 life. In the course of a few years, after having 

 first made a searching study into the life of 

 the corn, Prof. C. G. Hopkins, of the Illinois 

 Agricultural College, bred a new corn which 

 was relatively much richer in oil than any 

 which had preceded it. He produced a corn 

 having six and ninety-six hundredths per cent 

 of oil, while the oil in the corn of the crop 

 with which he started six years before con- 

 tained only four and seven-tenths per cent of 

 oil. To some manufacturers the fat of the germ 

 is not essential, so, to accommodate these, he 

 reversed the process and bred a corn low in fat, 

 or oil, reaching two and ninety-nine hundredths 

 per cent. As every per cent of fat in corn will 

 increase the value of the corn for those manu- 

 facturing the oil by at least five cents per 

 bushel, the immediate commercial importance 

 of the new corn is apparent. 



The element of the corn which is most valu- 



62 



