JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 
Yol. XXVIII Washington, D. C., May 3, 1924 No. 5 
STUDIES UPON THE RELATIVE MERITS OF SWEET CORN 
VARIETIES FOR CANNING PURPOSES AND THE RELA¬ 
TION OF MATURITY OF CORN TO THE QUALITY OF 
THE CANNED PRODUCT 1 
By C. W. Culpepper and C. A. Magoon, Office of Horticultural Investigations , 
Bureau of Plant Industry , United States Department of Agriculture 
INTRODUCTION 
The market value of a canned food is determined primarily by its quality. 
Any factors, therefore, which affect the quality of a product deserve careful study 
to the end that a high standard of excellence may be established and consistently 
maintained. In the canning of sweet corn the variety factor, together with 
climatic considerations, has been regarded as of great importance in determining 
the quality of the finished product, and certain varieties have been thought by 
some to be exceptionally desirable for canning. This fact has had no small 
influence in directing the progress of corn canning both as a home and a com¬ 
mercial enterprise. Many kinds of sweet corn are grown in this country and a 
considerable number of them are being canned. It has seemed desirable, there¬ 
fore, to subject the more widely known of these to careful comparative study to 
learn the importance of variety as a factor in canning quality. 
Since certain factors other than varietal differences in the corn are known to 
affect the quality of the canned product, as for instance, the stage of ripeness, 
the promptness in handling after plucking from the stalk, etc., it was thought 
wise to give particular attention also to some of these matters and to record such 
related data as the conditions of the experiment permitted. This report, there¬ 
fore, will be found to deal with matters of interest not only to growers and can- 
ners of corn but also to those who are interested in the physical development 
of the corn and in the chemical transformations taking place during the growing 
and maturing of the ear. 
REVIEW OF LITERATURE 
Sweet corn was first grown specifically for canning purposes about 1842, when 
Isaac Winslow, the pioneer in corn canning, arranged with his brother-in-law 
Caleb Jones, “to plant a piece of green corn for experimental purposes” (18). 2 
It was 10 years later, however, before corn canning was well established, though 
an invoice of sale of canned corn as early as 1848 is on record. 
The first comprehensive study of sweet corn seems to have been made by 
Salisbury (54) in 1849. This writer made observations upon 20 varieties of 
corn, including sweet, pop, dent, and flint varieties. He kept careful notes upon 
their characteristics as shown in the field and recorded the results of numerous 
chemical analyses made during the growth of the corn. In 1885, apparently 
receiving more or less inspiration from the work of Salisbury mentioned above, 
Kornicke and Werner (85) in their volumes upon the cereal grains discussed in 
considerable detail the subject of corn varieties. 
1 Received for publication Mar. 11, 1924. 
2 Reference is made by number (italic) to ‘’Literature cited,” p. 440-443. 
Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol, XXVIII, No. 5 
Washington, D. C. May 3, 1924 
96035—24f— — 1 (403) Key No. G-389 
