CARRYING QUALITIES OF EXPORT CORN. 5 
decomposes the grain and liberates its water of composition, thus 
increasing the amount of moisture in some portions or in the whole 
cargo, if conditions are not disturbed, without any addition whatever 
of moisture from outside sources. From these causes, the grain in 
many of the shipments examined was found to be damp and heating 
at the top, while that beneath was cool, and the iron decks and sides 
of the ship were found to be quite wet from the condensed moisture 
from the heating corn. 
GERMINATION AND FERMENTATION IN EXPORT CORN. 
In the grain trade the germinating season, so called, is said to be a 
special season in the year during which grain is customarily planted 
in the ground. The limits of this season are generally understood 
to extend from the middle of March to the middle of June. It is 
generally believed that there is a natural and inherent tendency in 
grain to germinate during that season and that the heating of grain 
in storage and in transit during those months is due primarily to 
this tendency. Sprouted corn was occasionally found in the cargoes 
examined, but only at the top of the bulk, where considerable addi- 
tional moisture had been supplied, either through condensation as 
described elsewhere or from outside sources, and where the corn had 
access to fresh air. In order that corn, or any of the grains, may 
germinate, there must be present: (1) Air or ogygen, (2) heat, and 
(3) moisture. If one or more of these are absent, germination will 
not take place, but if all are present at the same time and in sufficient 
quantities and the germ of the corn be alive, germination will take 
place, regardless of the time, the place, or the season of the year. 
There can be no doubt that the same conditions of temperature and — 
moisture that favor germination or the active growth of the germ of 
the grain, are favorable also to the growth of molds and bacteria as 
well as the production and action of certain ferments and enzymes 
which have the power of changing the composition of the grain 
kernels and which in their action produce heat sufficient to cause the 
heating of the grain. Fermentation is the principal danger to which 
damp grain in storage or in transit is exposed. Corn in which 
fermentation has begun need not necessarily be hot or even perceptibly 
heating, but the action is usually indicated by a peculiar, faintly sour 
odor present. The presence of this odor should serve as a warning 
to the shipper or handler of grain, because corn in which the odor is 
present soon becomes hot if not frequently and thoroughly ventilated, 
especially if its moisture content is high. The process of fermentation 
develops acid within the corn kernel, and the degree to which fermen- 
tation has taken place in any given lot of corn may be very closely de- 
termined by the acidity test and is expressed in this publication in terms 
of “acidity ¢.c.”’ The maximum limit of acidity allowed by Austra- 
