68 INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON SWEET CORN. 



GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 

 By H. W. WILEY. 



1. The content of sugar in sweet Indian corn does not depend so 

 much on temperature and length of day as'is the case with the sugar 

 beet. In the latter case the content of sugar varies inversely with 

 the temperature, provided the latter is such as to permit normal 

 growth. In other words, the lower the temperature during the grow- 

 ing season (within reasonable limits) the higher the content of sugar. 

 This does not appear to be the case with sweet Indian corn, since a 

 higher average sugar content is found in South Carolina and Florida 

 than in Connecticut and Maine. 



2. The content of sugar in sweet Indian corn rapidly diminishes 

 after the ear is separated from the stalk. The speed of the diminu- 

 tion depends largely on the temperature, being more rapid with a 

 higher and slower with a lower temperature; this rule, of course, 

 applies to ordinary conditions. This disappearance of the sugar is 

 doubtless due to the continued growth of the grains of the ear and 

 the transformation of the sugar which they contain into starch or 

 some other form of nonsaccharine carbohydrate. Sweet Indian corn 

 intended for the table, therefore, should be harvested as short a time 

 as possible before being delivered for consumption, and during the 

 intermediate period should be kept at as low a temperature as can 

 be secured without freezing. 



3. The chief value of Indian corn for the table is found in its sweet- 

 ness, although this must be coupled with succulence and tenderness. 

 The flavor of the naturally sweet Indian corn can not be successfully 

 imitated by the artificial addition of sugar. Hence it follows that 

 there is some particular form in which the sugar is combined by nature 

 in the corn which gives it its high value, and mere sweetness, pro- 

 duced either by added cane sugar or by saccharine, does not give the 

 fine flavor of a naturally sweet product. 



4. The chief difference between the Indian corn of the extreme 

 North and that of the extreme South is found not so much in its con- 

 tent of sugar as in its succulence, the lower temperatures of the North 

 making the corn more tender and edible for a longer period than 

 the extremely high temperatures of the South. The season, there- 

 fore, during which the green Indian corn can be used and kept in 

 good condition is longer in the North than it is in the South; in other 

 words, the ripening process is not so rapidly completed in the North. 

 Further, although the southern-grown corn was superior in sugar 

 content it was inferior in yield and general physical appearance. It 

 would appear, however, that the superiority in sugar content of the 

 southern corn opens up a possibility of acclimating the most favorable 

 varieties and by selection and careful cultivating greatly improving 

 the southern-grown product. 



