30 Nebraska Agricultural Exp. Station Researc h Bui,. 16 
Table 5 (Continued) — Kxvect of freezing temperatures on ger- 
mination of corn differing in moisture content (1913 and 19H) 
Tempera ure range 32° to 28° F. 
Moisture 
range 
Moisture 
in grain 
Germination 
Ice 
observed 
in grain 
Embryos dark 
or light 
Normal 
grain 
Frozen 
grain 
Ratio 
of normal 
to frozen 
Per cent 
Per cent 
Per cent 
Per cent 
[ 21.4 
100 
100 
100:100 
* 
* 
90 fn 
\ 21.2 
100 
100 
100:100 
* 
Light 
uv IU u J . . 
1 20.3 
100 
100 
100:100 
* 
* 
1 20.1 
100 
100 
100:100 
* 
Light 
Average . . 
20.8 
1 
100 
100 
100:100 
*No observations made. 
The ears with the lowest moisture content were uninjured, 
while many of those of intermediate moisture content showed 
more or less loss of vitality. It will also be noted that ice 
crystals were found in the kernels containing 50 per cent or 
more of moisture, while no ice was noted in kernels containing 
less than this amount. 
All kernels with high moisture content showed dark 
embryos. The change in embryo color and in ice formation to 
no ice, together with the germination tests, seems to indicate 
that the transition from a critical moisture content to one where 
little or no injury resulted took place between 50 and 40 percent. 
TEMPERATURE 24° TO 20° F. 
Table 6 contains the data for all the freezing tests in which 
the temperature ranged from 24° to 20° F. The same observa- 
tions were made as for the previous range of temperature. By 
comparing the germination of the normal and of the frozen 
grain in this table with those in Table 5, it may be seen that 
the exposure to this range of temperature is fatal to corn of 
lower moisture content than was the temperature of 32° to 28° F. 
Even corn containing; as low as 26 per cent of moisture showed 
some ice. Discoloration of embryo is more pronounced, and the 
transition from a fatal moisture content to one not fatal seems 
to have occurred between 35 and 28 per cent. 
