ACIDITY IN DETERMINING SOUNDNESS OP CORN. 



35 



f?/WGE M DAMAGED KE/?A/ELS - REf? CENT 

 ( LESS THAA/S?6 , ,Sto3_9% j , /Q70/E% / , MORE 7?4W /S% , 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 



The percentage of moisture in corn is and should be the primary 

 factor in commercial grading. This is due to the fact that the quality 

 of corn from the standpoint of storage and transportation is directly 

 dependent upon the moisture content above certain limits. From 

 the time of harvest 

 until spring (usually 

 April or May, depend- 

 ing upon the season 

 and section of the 

 country) the corn ar- 

 rives at terminal mar- 

 kets with an exces- 

 sive percentage of 

 moisture. But after 

 a certain time in the 

 year the great bulk 

 of the corn arriving 

 at terminal markets 

 is without excessive 

 percentage of moist- 

 ure and the moisture 

 content ceases to be 

 a factor in the grad- 

 ing. Quality and 

 soundness, or the 

 percentage of dam- 

 aged kernels, then 

 become the primary 

 factors in determin- 

 ing the grade. 



The degree of acid- 

 ity of corn, a factor 

 heretofore never used 

 in commercial grad- 

 ing, is nevertheless 

 found to be in direct 

 relation to the degree 

 of quality and sound- 

 ness as applied to 

 the commercial grades in connection with the range in percentage of 

 damaged kernels found in corn arriving at terminal markets, as shown 

 in figure 28. 



The degree of acidity of corn should not necessarily be considered 

 a measure of the percentage of individual kernels that are visibly 

 damaged. It is the soundness and quality of the corn which is indi- 



Fig. 26. — Curves showing the relation of the degree of acidity ana 

 the percentages of germination and of moisture to the range in 

 percentage of damaged kernels as found in samples representing 

 No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, and sample-grade corn arriving at a principal 

 terminal market (C) from December, 1911, to November, 1912, 

 inclusive. 



