MAKING NEW KINDS OF PLANTS 437 



double crops. Now, as the cost of labor, etc., remains 

 the same, whether improved or unimproved seed is 

 planted, the gain is all clear profit. An increase of 

 only ten bushels per acre in the yield of corn would 

 mean an increase in our national wealth of over four 

 hundred and eighty million dollars a year. 



2. Quality. A bushel of corn, weighing fifty-six 

 pounds, contains approximately: 



36 pounds dry starch, worth \% cents per pound. 



7 pounds gluten, worth 1 cent per pound. 



5 pounds bran or hull, worth % cent per pound. 



4% pounds germ, 40 per cent of which is oil, worth 5 cents per pound. 

 3% pounds water and soluble matter, worth cents per pound. 



Which one of these constituents shall we increase 

 to improve the quality of the corn? We might en- 

 deavor to increase the percentage of oil, 1 since this 

 is the most valuable component. We must, however, 

 first consider whether any one will pay a correspond- 

 ingly higher price for corn containing more oil. As 

 a matter of fact, a company which buys about fifty 

 million bushels of corn per year offered to pay a 

 higher price for corn containing a higher percentage 

 of oil: an increase in oil of one pound per bushel 

 would increase the price of corn five cents per 

 bushel. The Illinois Experiment Station succeeded in 

 increasing the amount of oil from 4.7 per cent to 



1 The oil is valuable as a component of "artificial rubber" used for 

 electrical purposes, and is of especial importance in view of the decrease of 

 the world's supply of rubber. The oil is also used for lubricating purposes, 

 for adulterating olive-oil, as well as in the manufacture of soaps, paints, etc. 



