12 INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON SWEET CORN. 



11. Date of complete ripening and hardening of the corn. 



12. Date of first frost, if any. 



13. Date of harvesting of ripened corn. 



14. Yield in stalks and ears per acre. 



15. Meteorological data, including time and amount of rainfall, average tem- 

 perature, etc. 



In regard to the sampling for analytical work, subsequent communication will be 

 made, and to this end I shall be glad to have you inform me about the time when the 

 corn will be ready for table use. Further suggestions will be then made, and probably 

 an agent of this Bureau will be present 10 assist in the sampling. * * * 



After sending the sample of Stowell Evergreen it was decided that 

 it would be advisable to use also a corn that ripened earlier, owing to 

 the improbability that the variety named would ripen in Maine, and 

 the following letter, together with a sample of Crosby corn, was sent 

 to the various stations cooperating: 



APRIL 19, 1905. 



DEAR SIR: It seems quite probable that the sample of sweet-corn seed which I sent 

 you Stowell Evergreen will not ripen at the northern stations which are cooperating 

 in the experimental work. I ask, therefore, that you plant also a small plat of Crosby 

 com which I am sending herewith, as this will certainly ripen even as far north as Maine. 

 I desire, also, to add a word of caution which probably is wholly unnecessary, since 

 you doubtless would have avoided any danger of contamination anyway. Do not 

 plant the varieties of sweet corn near other varieties, especially of field corn, where 

 there can be any danger of mixing the pollen. Only a small area will be necessary 

 of this second variety; perhaps one thirty-secondth of an acre will be entirely suffi- 

 cient. I am sending you about 2 or 3 pounds of the seed. 



I am informed by those in charge of the seed distribution here that the vitality of 

 this Crosby corn is not very high, only about 70 per cent. I therefore suggest that 

 you plant the seed liberally and then thin down to the proper number of stalks. * * * 



PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENT ON THE EFFECT OF STORAGE ON SUGAR 



CONTENT. 



It was the original intention to have an agent of the Bureau of 

 Chemistry visit the various stations when the corn was ripe, harvest 

 the necessary amount and, without husking, wrap the ears carefully 

 in oiled paper to prevent evaporation of water, and ship the samples 

 directly to the Bureau at Washington. Prior to the ripening of the 

 corn in South Carolina, samples of green corn were secured -on the 

 open market, and a study of the effect of storage at room temperatures, 

 such as would be encountered in shipping, was made. 



The sugars were determined in a number of the ears and the remain- 

 ing ones were moistened, wrapped in oiled paper, weighed, and stored 

 at room temperature for thirty-six hours. At the expiration of this 

 time they were again^ weighed and the amount of sugars determined. 

 Only a slight loss in weight was observed, as shown by the following 

 table, but the sugars showed a marked decrease. On opening the 

 stored samples they were found to be sweet, and no trace of fermenta- 

 tion could be perceived. 



