\Mii;i<\\ EXP0B1 < HUN (MAIZE) in EUROPE. -\ 
in of llif grain be alive, germination will take place regardless of 
the time, tin' place, or the season of the year. 
There can l>e no doub( thai the same conditions of temperature and 
moisture thai favor germination or the active growth of the germ <>f 
the grain are favorable also to the growth of molds mid bacteria, 
well as the production and action of certain ferments which have the 
power of changing the composition ■>! the grain kernels, and which in 
their action produce heal sufficient to cause the heating of the grain. 
There is too tittle known of the great Bubject of fermentation in 
nature t<> enable more t<> !><• said than that some kind of fermentation 
does frequently take place in bulk grain and thai this is the principal 
danger to which damp grain in storage or in transit is exposed. 
SHIPMENTS "i "WINTER-8HEIAED" COBN. 
In the Northern Bemisphere during the spring months the proper 
combination of the elements favorable to the production and action 
of ferments is more likely to exist than during the other seasons of 
the year. The fact thai the corn shipped for export during the early 
spring months of the past several years has been mostly •winter- 
shelled " corn, which still retained a relatively large percentage of its 
moisture and in which fermentation had frequently begun before 
shipment . and the further fact that much damage has been sustained 
through the shipment o( such corn is what undoubtedly originated 
and what has perpetuated the idea of a "germinating season." 
Corn in which fermentation has begun need no! necessarily be hot 
or even perceptibly heating, bul the action is usually indicated by a 
peculiar faintly sour odor present. The presence of this odor should 
serve as a warning to the shipper or handler of corn, because corn in 
.which the odor i-> presenl soon becomes hoi if not frequently and 
thoroughly ventilated, more especially if its moisture content i- high. 
IIIK IMPORT w< i; OF MOISTXJBE CONTENT in CORE l\ < >< I w I i: w-ll. 
These investigations have led to the conclusion, which is believed 
to have been clearly demonstrated in the tables and diagrams, 
that the moisture content of corn, and of other grains as well, is the 
primary factor determining their capacity to carry safely in ocean 
transit without deterioration, and the importance of this factor has 
been emphasized throughout the work. Corn in which the moisture 
content is sufficiently low will carry safely under ordinary conditions 
of ocean transit for any reasonable length of time during any season 
of the year, no matter where it is stowed in the vessel, while corn con- 
taining a high moisture content is constantly in danger of heating at 
any time owing to a variety of contributing causes. 
It has been shown that although somewhal drier corn was shipped 
to Europe during the spring months, its moisture content was —till not 
[Cir. .".] 
