May 3, 1924 
Relative Merits of Sweet Com Varieties for Canning 405 
including Poison (46), Poggiale (45), Stepf (61), Fresenius (24), and by Jackson 
(38) in this country, who studied the chemistry of the corn kernel. With the 
exception of Salisbury, however, the work of these early investigators was con¬ 
cerned with field varieties only. Atwater (5) in 1869 reported the results of 
analyses upon several varieties of corn, including one of sweet corn. 
Hornberger (30) in 1882 added materially to the literature upon the chemistry 
of corn by publishing a very comprehensive paper, giving special attention to 
the chemical history of the plant during growth. While this work was done 
upon a single variety of field corn (Badische Friihmais, Poppelsdorf 1878) it 
opened up a very important field of research which has not yet been completely 
covered. In 1883 Richardson (30) published the results of investigations upon 
wheat and corn in which are compiled the analyses of 19 samples of sweet corn 
derived from various sources, and again in 1884 (51) figures upon 4 others were 
placed on record. Flechsig (28) in 1886 made analyses of 14 different varieties 
of corn, including pne sweet variety. Schweitzer (56), following the same line 
of investigations as Hornberger, in 1889 reported upon a study of the life history 
of corn at its different periods of growth, using the St. Charles White as the 
source of his material. In the same year Failyer and Willard (22) reported 
upon analyses of King Philip and Yellow Dent corns at different stages of growth, 
and, Washburn (70) published his results upon the changes in chemical composi¬ 
tion of sweet corn during the ripening processes. 
Further work upon the chemistry of the corn kernel was reported by Maynard 
(39) , but his analyses were based upon air-dried material, hence the figures are 
difficult of comparison. Chittenden and Osborne (17) gave special attention to 
the proteins of the kernel, and later on Osborne and Clapp ( 44 ) carried the in¬ 
vestigation of the proteins still further, making special study of the amino acids 
resulting from hydrolysis. The characteristic proteins in high and low protein 
corn have been more recently considered by Showalter and Carr (57). The 
Report of the Connecticut State Agricultural Experiment Station for 1893 (19) 
recorded the results of analyses upon 90 samples of corn kernels and pointed 
out the relation of climatic and soil factors to the chemical composition of the 
grain. Stone (63) in his study of the carbohydrates from various materials 
considered somewhat those of maize, but feed varieties only seem to have been 
examined. Hopkins (29) went rather carefully into the chemistry of the corn 
kernel and in addition to a critical review of the literature recorded the results 
of his own studies upon the constituents of corn, giving special attention to the 
oil. The major portion of this work, at least, seems to have been done upon a 
single variety of field corn (Burr’s White) and apparently nothing was done 
upon sweet varieties. 
Of very great interest and importance to the present work is that which was 
reported by Straughn ( 64 ) in 1907. The object of this work as stated by the 
writer was to assist in the breeding of superior sweet corn for table and canning 
uses. He found that so constant and uniform was the sugar of the mature 
grains that it was not feasible to select for high sugar content from the dry 
kernels. The wrinkling of the kernel seemed to bear some relationship to the 
sugar content, however, the finely wrinkled grains having a slightly higher 
sugar content than the more coarsely wrinkled. Of particular importance in 
this work was the finding that the sugar content of the corn in edible condition 
alters rapidly during the first few hours after the ears are plucked from the stalk. 
Further studies upon the transformations occurring in green sweet corn during 
storage at different temperatures were reported by Straughn and Church (65) 
in 1909. Losses in sugar and deterioration in flavor were noted at all tempera¬ 
tures and their conclusions were summarized in the statement that corn should 
be put on the market or canned with as little delay as possible after gathering. 
