FIELD CROPS 383 



December to June varies from 8 to 18 per cent, with an average of 

 14 1 /2 per cent for the first year and an average of 20 per cent for two 

 years. 



For the ten years from 1896 to 1905 the Chicago price of corn 

 for the month of May has averaged 3.8 cents per bushel, or 8.9 per 

 cent, higher than the December price. As the average price in May 

 is 3.8 cents higher than in December, a shrinkage of 8.58 per cent 

 of the fall weight will equalize the increase in price, so that the same 

 amount would be received whether the crop be sold in December 

 or in May. Estimating interest on the value of the corn at 6 per cent, 

 a shrinkage of 5.84 per cent will make it immaterial whether the 

 celling be done in December or in May. In cases where 72 pounds 

 are sold as a bushel in December and 70 pounds in May, estimating 

 interest at 6 per cent, a shrinkage of 8.45 per cent will make it im- 

 material whether the selling be done in December or May. 



In many local points there is a much greater difference between 

 prices in December and in May than is shown by Chicago market 

 prices. It will, of course, be necessary for each farmer to decide for 

 himself whether it is more profitable to sell his crop at harvest time 

 or hold it for higher prices. Corn that has not been kept dry during 

 the winter is usually disposed of in early spring for the reason that 

 it is likely to spoil upon the approach of warm weather. In general 

 it is therefore better for the farmer who has cared for his corn crop 

 well during the winter to hold it till summer or early fall, so that 

 the price for his crop will not be governed by that paid for wet, low- 

 grade corn thrust upon the market in early spring. 



The Michigan Experiment Station reported as follows : In the 

 fall of 1896, October 3 and 5, 6 loads of corn amounting to 16,767 

 pounds were placed in a crib. Most of it was hauled as soon as husked 

 as the weather was damp and rainy. February 13 following the corn 

 was again weighed. It had lost 5,725 pounds, a little over 30 per 

 cent. This is an extreme case, as the corn was unusually damp when 

 placed in the crib. 



October 21, 1895, 3,310 pounds of ears were hauled from the 

 field in a fairly dry condition on a damp day. The corn was left 

 in the sacks until January 23, when it had lost 359 pounds or nearly 

 11 per cent. 



An experimenter at Houghton Farm weighed corn from certain 

 plots called north plots and west plots, October, 1881. There was a 

 weight of 55,553 pounds taken from the north plots and 48,830 

 pounds from the west plots. The corn from both series was weighed 

 again in March. The total shrinkage of ears from the north plots 

 was found to be 7.41 per cent and from the west plots 7.49 per cent. 



In the nineties owners of 6,000 acres in Christian County, 111., 

 erected in the center of the tract mentioned a double crib 26 feet 

 wide, 250 feet long and ten feet high at the eaves, with a driveway 8 

 feet wide through the center and a good tight roof over all. Near one 

 end of this crib a small office was built and a set of standard scales 

 put in. Husking began October 22 and ended December 17. Every 

 day while it was going on one owner remained at the office, and all 



