ACIDITY IN DETERMINING SOUNDNESS OF CORN. 
35 
RAMGE //V DAMAGED KE/?MELS - PEf? CEMT 
I LESS TH/WS%, K Sro_3 : 9J6 J J07O/Sf±j v MO/?E 7?i4A/ /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 and 
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. 
