2 BULLETIN" 904, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



corn, has a tendency to become rancid when allowed to remain in 

 the corn product, especially in the presence of moisture. It became 

 desirable therefore to remove the germ in order that these manu- 

 factured products might retain their quality after leaving the mill, 

 and this fact has led to the scientific development of the dry corn- 

 milling process and the starch and glucose manufacturing processes. 

 The practice of grinding the whole kernel into meal without 

 previously removing the germ is confined largely to the South, and 

 the product is sometimes referred to as "water-ground " meal. There 

 is considerable difference of opinion as to the relative nutritive value 

 and flavor of the products from the whole and the degerminated corn, 

 but if the products are to be slnpped extensively the removal of the 

 germ minimizes the loss from spoilage in transit and in storage. 



Fig. 1. — Corn haller or degerminator. This type of machine is quite generally used in the dry 

 degerminating process. 



The percentage of moisture present is of vital importance, and 

 millers aim to reduce the moisture in their products to 12 per cent 

 or less, in which case it is claimed that under normal conditions little 

 difficulty is likely to be experienced in keeping the products. Cereal 

 products are liable, of course, to infestation with weevils, and it is 

 not probable that the removal of the germ from the corn will lessen 

 this trouble to any considerable extent. 



METHODS OF DEGERMINATION USED. 



The methods of manufacturing corn products fall into two classes: 

 The dry milling process, used for making hominy products, such as 

 grits, flakes, meal, flour, and hominy feeds; and the wet process, 

 used in the manufacture of starch, glucose, and related products. 

 The methods of determinating differ materially in these two processes, 

 and they will therefore be considered separately. 



