May 3,1924 Relative Merits of Sweet Corn Varieties for Canning 431 
Distinct and significant differences exist, therefore, between the polysacchar¬ 
ides of the sweet and the field varieties of corn, which differences are believed to 
be of very great importance from the standpoint of table quality. 
TESTS UPON CANNING QUALITY 
The sampling of the different varieties of corn for canning tests was begun 
upon ears at 15 days from the date when their silks first appeared and subsequent 
samples were taken at age intervals of 5 days, up to and including 30 days. The 
ears were plucked in the morning and taken at once to the laboratory where 
they were husked, silked, trimmed when necessary, and washed. The corn was 
cut from the cob “ Maine style/’ that is, the outer one-third to one-half of the 
kernels cut off and the remaining edible portion scraped from the cob. In order 
that careful study might be made of the relation of the degree of maturity to 
the consistency of the canned product it was necessary that each can receive the 
same amounts of liquor and corn. Therefore, instead of mixing the cut corn 
and liquor in a precooker each was heated separately and measured quantities 
placed in each can. No. 2 “sanitary top” cans were used. The corn was pre¬ 
cooked in steam heated vessels with frequent stirring until the temperature 
reached 85° to 90° C. (185° to 194° F.) and the liquor was heated in glass flasks 
to the same temperature; 120 cc. (4.2 ounces avoirdupois) of the hot liquor 7 
was first placed in the can and 480 gm. (16.9 ounces avoirdupois) of the corn 
added, thus giving a 1: 4 mixture. By putting the hot liquor into the can first 
a better mixture with the corn was secured than when the corn was introduced 
before the liquor. The cans were sealed immediately and processed as rapidly 
as the capacity of the equipment permitted. Those cans which could not be 
processed at once were held in a water bath at about 80° C. (176° F.) until they 
could be placed in the retort. The cook or process was for one hour at 121° C. 
(249.8° F.) in the steam retort, at the end of which time the cans were removed 
from the retort and submerged in cold water to cool. 
At the end of the canning season and at irregular intervals thereafter series of 
cans representing all the varieties studied at their various stages of maturity 
were opened and subjected to critical comparative study by various groups of 
individuals qualified by experience and training to judge of the quality of the 
canned product. The results of these tests were as follows: 
At 15 days maturity all varieties of sweet corn yielded a tender and sweet 
product but it was lacking in body and flavor and was classed as slightly too 
immature to grade as first-quality canned corn. Golden Bantam, Dreer’s Golden 
Giant, and Morse’s Golden Cream of the yellow and Crosby and Hickox’s Im¬ 
proved of the white varieties were not far, however, from being in prime canning 
condition at 15 days. 
At the 20-day stage all the varieties were judged to be in about prime canning 
condition, both from the standpoint of body or consistency and of flavor. Slight 
differences in sweetness were observed among the varieties and the consistency 
of the product varied somewhat, but aside from the differences in size of the kernels 
among some of the corns which made it possible to identify them readily, varia¬ 
tions in flavor, sweetness, and with few exceptions, consistency, were too small to 
be of practical significance. 
Among the later maturing varieties such as Stowell’s Evergreen, Narrow 
Grained Evergreen, Mammoth Sugar and Old Colony the consistency of the 
canned product was a little thinner than with the earlier sorts. The explanation 
for this is to be found in the greater moisture content of these varieties as shown 
by the figures in Table III. The flavor and sweetness of both the earlier and 
the later corns were remarkably uniform and were found to be largely independent 
of the consistency of the canned corn. 
7 The liquor was prepared by dissolving 2 \ per cent of salt and 6£ per cent of sugar in distilled water. 
