INVESTIGATION OP 1905. 25 



considered. There is a great difference in the texture of the soils, 

 although all seemed suited to the growing of corn. Three of the 

 plats, those in South Carolina, Connecticut,, and Maine, were fertil- 

 ized, and the Maryland field had lain fallow for a number of years. 

 Previous studies, however, indicate that these factors chiefly influence 

 yield rather than composition of the crop. 



There appears to be some relation between the percentage of sugar 

 and the drirree of latitude, though this is evidently not the dominant 

 factor, and the results tend to overthrow the idea that com grown in 

 a southern latitude is not so sweet as that grown farther north. 

 Although there are exceptions, it may be said that the sugar content 

 generally varies inversely with the latitude that is, the percentage 

 of sugar is lower in the higher or more northern latitude. The excep- 

 tion in Maine may he partly due to the altitude and to the fact that 

 the Crosby corn, which alone was grown there, is a variety marked 

 by high sugar content. 



The fact pointed out by the Bureau of Chemistry in the work on 

 the sugar beet and also demonstrated in studies made by Dr. O. 

 Vibrans, that unobstructed sunshine is not necessary to the devel- 

 opment of sugar in the be-t . ;< l> seems to hold true with sugar corn. 

 In the table giving a summary of meteorological data for 1905 it 

 will be noticed t hat the percentage of sunshine is at its minimum at 

 the Maryland station, yet the suirar content is the second highest, and 

 the New Jersey station, \\itli the lowest percentage of sugar, is as 

 hiirh as any other station in percentage of sunshine recorded. At the 

 Maine station the clear days are few, and the cloudy and partly cloudy 

 days are in the majority. Contrary to what might be expected from 

 the previous study of the sugar beet, a high temperature and a low 

 sugar content do not occur together, the opposite relation apparently 

 existing. 



The figures for the average length of day for the season in general 

 follow those for sugar content; the longer the day the higher the 

 percentage of sugar, as would be expected, the only notable exception 

 to i his being South Carolina, where the apparent deviations from the 

 general rule may be partly explained by the altitude, the highest 

 altitude and the lowe>t latitude being found at that station. Clemson 

 College is 850 feet above sea level; College Park is only 56 feet above 

 sea level. With the exception of the South Carolina station, only a' 

 slight variation in altitude exists at the other stations. 



As has been already stated, the lack of rainfall may have a decided 

 effect on the sugar content. This is especially evident at the New 

 Jersey station, where the rainfall during the first two growing months 

 was inadequate, stunting the corn to such an extent that the Crosby 

 variety did not mature at all. The rainfall in South Carolina during 

 the month of June was very small, but the deficiency occurred at a 



U. S. Dept. Agr., Bureau of Chemistry, Bulletin 78, p. 42. 



