28 CORN 



liushels, Argentina has figured as the most important single source 

 of supply for the great importing nations of Europe. Exports to all 

 countries out of the banner crop of 1912 amounted to 190 million 

 bushels. If the present rate of increase in culture be maintained, the 

 Republic would doubtless be in a situation eventually to supply single 

 handed the entire import demand of all European states. 



Within the last few years increasing quantities of corn have been 

 imported into the United States from the Argentine, most of which 

 has been consigned to the Corn Products Refining Co., of New York, 

 for manufacturing purposes. The importations, however of the 1913 

 crop have exceeded those of former years, the total importations from 

 July 1, 1913, to February 13, 1914, as reported by Bradstreet's being 

 7,132,980 bushels, approximately 85 per cent of which was discharged 

 at Atlantic ports, and the remainder at Gulf ports. 



Argentine being the corn belt of the Southern Hemisphere, the 

 crop matures approximately six months in advance of corn in the 

 United States, so that export shipments begin during the early part 

 of June. The duration of the voyage from the Argentine to the 

 United States under favorable conditions is approximately 30 days. 



While the total production of corn in the Argentine under the 

 most favorable conditions is considerably below the production in the 

 state of Illinois, less than half of the Argentine crop is consumed 

 within the Republic, so that the Argentine exports have greatly ex- 

 ceeded those of the United States during the past few years. 



The Argentine corn is handled in burlap bags containing from 

 130 to 135 pounds, in direct contrast to the corn from the United 

 States, which is exported mainly in bulk. The most common method 

 of discharging cargoes at United States ports is to hoist with crane 

 and tackle from 12 to 15 bags at a time and shift them to barges or 

 lighters alongside the vessel, where the corn is inspected as the bags 

 are opened. From seven to fifteen days are usually required to unload 

 a cargo, depending largely on the condition and quality of corn and 

 the weather. 



Corn as grown in Argentina consists almost exclusively of the 

 hard, flinty varieties with medium to small kernels, mostly yellow in 

 color. North American varieties like the Hickory King, a white corn, 

 and Queen, a yellow variety, have been tried with success. The char- 

 acter of the corn, having both small cobs and small kernels, results in 

 a much lower moisture content in the Argentina shelled corn than is 

 normally contained in the large dent varieties of the United States. 



