INTRINSIC VALUES BASED ON DRY-MATTER CONTENT. 
definite maximum limits of moisture for the various grades of corn. 
These grades were adopted by many of the State grain-inspection 
departments and grain exchanges and resulted in the wide adoption of 
the quick method for the determination of the moisture content of 
grain which was devised in the Department of Agriculture. 1 In 1914, 
the Department of Agriculture promulgated grades for commercial 
corn and fixed definite maximum limits of moisture which each of the 
six numerical grades might contain. 2 These grades have been 
adopted and are now in force in most of the corn markets in the 
United States. The pure-food laws in some States also have certain 
regulations dealing with the amount of moisture which grain and 
flour may contain in order to enter the State. 
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Fig. 2.— Diagram showing the amount of dry matter and of water contained in 1,000 bushels of corn testing 
the maximum percentage in moisture allowed in the six numerical grades for commercial corn and also 
the comparative value of the dry matter in 1,000 bushels of each grade when No. 3 corn is worth 70 cents 
per bushel. 
When a unit of weight of grain, cottonseed, etc., which contains 
excess moisture dries out naturally or is artificially dried to a lower 
moisture content, some of the water is lost but all of the dry matter is 
retained, and as only the dry matter is considered as having any value 
the total value will be the same after drying that it was before drying. 
The weight , ho we ver , will have been re duce d through the lo ss in moisture . 
Figure 2 shows the comparative values by grades of the dry matter 
contained in a carload of 1,000 bushels of corn testing the maximum 
limits in moisture allowed in the Government grades for commercial 
corn when No. 3 corn is considered as being worth 70 cents per bushel. 
i For a description of this method and the apparatus used with it, see Bureau of Plant Industry Circular 
72, entitled "A Moisture Tester for Grain and Other Substances and How to Use It," by J. W. T. Duvel. 
2 For an explanation of the rules for grading, see Department of Agriculture Bulletin 168, entitled 
"Grades for Commercial Corn," by J. W. T. Duvel. 
