384 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



the corn that went into the crib was weighed and recorded. The 

 quantity put in footed up 16,155 bushels of 70 pounds each. The 

 corn was finally sold to be delivered early the following July. At that 

 time the owner again took charge of the scales and weighed the 

 corn as it came out of the crib. It was also weighed at the elevator, the 

 total weight at the two places varying but a few pounds. The corn 

 weighed 14,896 bushels and 40 pounds when taken out, showing 

 a total shrinkage of 1,258 bushels, or a small fraction less than 7% 

 per cent. When husking began the grain was considered to be in 

 fair cribbing condition. Very little rain fell during the winter, only 

 a few showers in March and April, while May and June were very 

 dry. 



In the fall of 1898 a series of experiments were begun at the 

 Iowa Experiment Station to test the shrinkage of corn in the ear. 

 There was weighed into a crib 13.5 feet long by 7.5 feet wide, built 

 on a scale so that weights could be taken whenever desired, 7,000 

 pounds of corn in the ear. The corn was weighed from time to time 

 and the shrinkage noted. 



The loss for the first three months was 630 pounds, or 9 per cent; 

 the second three months recorded a loss of 390 pounds, or over 5.5 

 per cent; the third three months gave a loss of 220 pounds, over 3 

 per cent; in the whole year the loss was 1,430 pounds, or slightly over 

 20 per cent. 



The experiment was repeated the following year. The 7,000 

 pounds of corn shrank 400 pounds between October 19 and January 

 19 ; the loss for the entire year was 635 pounds, the lowest weight be- 

 ing on August 9. This was a shrinkage of 9 per cent. At the end of 

 the year the kernels of corn contained 12.14 per cent of water and 

 the cob 25.82 per cent. 



On January 5, 1910, 500 bushels (28,000 pounds) of shelled 

 corn having an average moisture content of 18.8 per cent were placed 

 in the wooden hopper of a 30,000-pound scale in an elevator of the 

 Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. at Baltimore, Md. The scale was 

 tested prior to the beginning of the experiment, and after being filled 

 with grain the hopper of the scale was covered with cloth to prevent 

 an excessive quantity of dust from settling on the corn, and at the 

 same time to permit a fairly free circulation of air over the top of the 

 grain. 



The corn used in this test was taken from the regular car receipts 

 and was left in the hopper of the scale without handling from Janu- 

 ary 5 until May 14, a period of 129 days. It was then run out of the 

 hopper and elevated three times to the same scale, the weight of the 

 grain being taken after each elevation. After the third elevation the 

 corn was held on the scale for an additional period of 18 days, or until 

 June 1, at which time the experiment was terminated, making a total 

 storage period of 147 days. 



At the beginning of the test the average moisture content of the 

 corn was 18.8 per cent. The average temperature of the corn and 

 the temperature of the air was 20 F. The shrinkage in weight from 

 January 5 to April 21, while the corn remained in good condition, 



