CORN VARIETIES 117 



ery, and that those remaining make discolorations in the 

 meal, which are undesirable. 



The color of the grain does not affect the composition, 

 in spite of the preference of some feeders for yellow corn as 

 stock-food. Color probably has no relation to yield; 

 yet a summary made by the Mississippi Experiment Sta- 

 tion, relative to 490 varieties tested at 7 experiment sta- 

 tions, showed that white varieties averaged 2.5 bushels 

 more per acre than the yellow varieties. 



Regarding the best degree of hardness or softness of the 

 grain, there is a wide difference of opinion. Soft grains are 

 more readily eaten by horses, but are subject to greater 

 injury from weevils. Hard grains, while more resistant to 

 weevils, are not weevil-proof. There is a tendency for 

 hard grains to be of a shorter, more rounded form than 

 soft grains. Soft grains of the long shoe-peg type have 

 an undesirable amount of roughness on the top of the 

 grain. 



106. Shapes of grains. Sturtevant (U. S. Dept. Agr., 

 Office Expr. Sta., Bui. No. 57) has divided varieties of 

 dent corn into three classes, according to the width of 

 the grain compared with its length. In his first class, A, 

 having grains broader than long, there is not mentioned 

 a single variety that has been productive in the South. 



In his second class, B, having grains as broad as long, the 

 only two varieties that have generally proved in the 

 South even near the first rank in productiveness are Cocke 

 Prolific and Blount Prolific. 



His third class, C, having grains longer than broad, in- 

 cludes three times as many varieties as are listed in classes 

 A and B combined. In this long-grained group, we find 



