2 BULLETIN 1129, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF KERNELS. 
Fifty kernels of milo and 50 kernels of feterita were measured 
with a micrometer in three directions. 2 As the kernels lay on a flat- 
surface, the vertical diameter was called the thickness, the distance 
from the hilum to the opposite end the length, and the dimension at 
right angles to these the width. The maximum, minimum, and 
average dimensions are given in Tables 1 and 2. 
Table 1. — Measurements of 50 kernels of dwarf milo. 
Dimensions. 
Maxi- 
Mini- 
mum. 
mum. 
Milli- 
MOli- 
meters. 
meters. 
3.12 
2.31 
5.05 
2.69 
5.13 
2.81 
Aver- 
age. 
Thickness 
Width.... 
Length . . . 
MiUi- 
meters. 
2.88 
4.47 
4.42 
Fig. 1. — Sections of kafir kernels showing (A ) germ, (B) starchy endosperm, ( C ) horny endosperm. 
One thousand kernels of milo weighed 33.9 grams. Therefore, 
one kernel weighs on an average 0.0339 gram. Calculated from the 
measurements recorded in Table 1, the average volume of these 
kernels is 29.8 cubic millimeters and the surface of such a kernel is 
48.3 square millimeters. 
Table 
2. — Measurements of 50 kernels of dwarf feterita 
I. 
Dimensions. 
Maxi- 
mum. 
Mini- 
mum. 
Aver- 
age. 
Thickness 
Milli- 
meters. 
3.12 
Milli- 
meters. 
2.28 
3.83 
3.76 
MiUi- 
meters. 
2.76 
Width - 
4.82 
4.85 
4. IS 
Length 
4.39 
One thousand kernels of feterita weighed 32.7 grams. Therefore, 
one kernel weighs on an average 0.0327 gram. Calculated from the 
measurements recorded in Table 2, the average volume of these 
2 The feterita and milo used in this work were obtained from the Office of Cereal Investigations, Bureau of 
Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, and were identified under the following numbers: 
Dwarf Milo C I. 332 and Feterita C I. 182. 
